Fórsa members vote for industrial action at Louth County Group of hospitals

Health and social care professionals along with clerical and administrative staff employed at the Louth County Group of hospitals have voted to take industrial action, with their union accusing management of failing to address serious and ongoing staff shortages.

Fórsa now says it expects to serve notice of industrial action on the group, which comprises Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital and the Cottage Hospital in Drogheda, along with the Louth County Hospital in Dundalk, over the next few weeks.

A ballot of the union’s members in the grades involved produced an almost 60 per cent turnout and a margin in favour of industrial action of 98.4 per cent, according to Fórsa.

“Strike action is the action of last resort, but our members have been left with no other choice as demand for services continue to increase, while staff shortages place incredible pressure on staff. It can’t go on,” said Fórsa official Lynn Coffey.

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“Fórsa members have continued to work within teams and departments experiencing staff shortages, working through breaks, covering vacant posts, and extending their working hours in order to meet the demands of service [but] demand across the hospital group has continued to increase.

“For example, the ambulance bypass from Our Lady’s Hospital has put added pressures on to the system within Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, a system which was already failing. While additional nursing staff were provided for to reflect the increase in emergency patients, no corresponding increase in therapist and admin staff has taken place. The whole system is being stretched far too thin,” she said.

Ms Coffey said union representatives would now consider what action to take but suggested that the serving of notice of management was “a matter of ‘when’ rather than ‘if’”.

The ballot result comes just days after the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation said it would ballot its members working in the intensive care unit at University Hospital Limerick following its failure to reach an agreement with management on a plan to provide what the union regards as a safe working environment. There, the union said staff were unable to take their entitled leave because of staffing shortages.

The union is still in talks with managements at a number of other hospital facilities with the possibility that other such ballots will follow over the coming weeks.

The Louth County Group of hospitals was contacted for a response.