A planned strike by nurses in seven hospital emergency departments scheduled for Thursday has been deferred.
The executive council of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation on Monday agreed to accept a series of proposals and clarifications for dealing with emergency department overcrowding and staffing levels which were drawn up following talks with management at the Workplace Relations Commission over the weekend.
The new document in effect builds on an earlier set of proposals drawn up before Christmas which nurses in emergency departments had rejected in a recent ballot.
The new proposals contain a number of “confidence-building measures” as well as more details on additional new posts which are to be established for nurses in emergency units under the terms of the previous deal.
The document says that the parties acknowledged that there was a very significant lack of communication, trust and confidence among emergency department nursing staff with regard to the full implementation of the proposals for tackling overcrowding and understaffing.
“It is accepted that trust and confidence can only be restored by active,visible and constant monitoring and implementation of any agreement involving senior management staff.”
Escalation protocols
The new document provides for the establishment of a new executive forum at hospital group level involving senior management and INMO representatives which will oversee the implementation of the agreement as well as escalation protocols agreed several weeks ago to be put in place at a time of emergency department overcrowding.
There will also be a forum established in hospitals involving senior management and INMO representatives to oversee the implementation of the escalation policies at a local level.
Minister for Health Leo Varadkar said he was pleased the revised proposals had been accpted by the INMO.
“The interests of patients are always best served through negotiation and by avoiding industrial action,” he said in a statement. “I particularly welcome the fact that the proposals contain specific measures to enhance patient safety and delivery of care.”
Mr Varadkar said he expected “a deeper level of trust will develop between hospital management and nursing staff through the active implementation and monitoring of the proposals”.
