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Nurses at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin have served notice of industrial action due to unsafe conditions in the hospital’s emergency department.
The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) served notice on Wednesday of industrial action on management of Beaumont Hospital due to unsafe conditions in the emergency department for patients and staff.
The action, which will take the form of a work-to-rule, will commence on Wednesday, June 10th.
The INMO said they are taking this action due to staffing shortages, overcrowding, delayed discharges and the closure of 33 beds at the hospital.
It said “the action will escalate to work stoppages if the situation does not improve” but said essential care for patients will still be carried out.
In a statement to The Irish Times, Beaumont Hospital said it “regrets the difficult conditions experienced by patients and staff at its Emergency Department (ED).”
“The ED has been extremely busy in recent days. The situation has been exasperated by the closure of a ward for essential refurbishment for transplant patients. All available beds have been opened and additional nursing home beds are expected to become available shortly. The situation is under continuous review.”
Last week the INMO said Beaumont Hospital should go off-call “for an extended period” due to the dangerously high levels of overcrowding in the emergency department.
“In addition, overcrowding levels remain dangerously high due to insufficient bed capacity in the hospital. Delayed discharges are at the same level as they were in December and January despite the release of additional funding to address this problem,” said Lorraine Monaghan, INMO Industrial Relations Officer.
“On top of this, in recent weeks, management have taken the decision to close 33 beds thus reducing capacity further in the hospital.”
The INMO said management at the hospital failed to honour agreements made at the Labour Relations Commission in January when the INMO agreed to defer industrial action.