The Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) will be meeting with Government representatives this week to discuss a critical shortage in midwives in Dublin, it has emerged today.
The talks have been arranged in response to claims that pregnant women could be turned away from Dublin's top three maternity hospitals because of a critical shortage of midwives. There are currently 110 vacant midwifery posts in Holles Street, Rotunda and the Coombe.
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The Irish Nurses Organisation has called for immediate government action to address the crisis, saying that the problem is not confined to Dublin.
"The solution must have a national context," General Secretary of the INO Mr Liam Doran told ireland.com, adding that recommending mothers to attend regional hospitals rather than travelling to Dublin hospitals was not adequately addressing the issue.
Mr Doran called for Government action on the issues of pay, the recognition of midwives skills, enhanced flexibility in working hours and continuing education.
According to a senior doctor at Holles Street hospital, Dublin's top three maternity hospitals may be forced to operate a quota system unless staff numbers are greatly increased.
"If numbers continue to drop, from a medical-legal point of view and from a clinical risk point of view, there are only a certain number of patients we can deal with," said Dr Declan Keane.
"The effect of that could be that we are turning away Dublin mothers who are pregnant and saying Holles Street, Rotunda and the Coombe cannot accommodate you, you will have to deliver your baby elsewhere".
SIPTU has called for a working group to be set up to assess the crisis. "It would need to look at a monthly reward for working in Dublin and some sort of initiative on housing and accommodation in Dublin," said a union spokesman.
Health Minister Mr Míchael Martin said there were no plans for a Dublin allowance but that schemes to retain midwives were being drawn up.
Students were undergoing three-year direct-entry diplomas and there had been initiatives to pay certain fees to increase recruitment, he said.