A nurse in the midlands who blew the whistle on a colleague who was allegedly taking morphine she was meant to be giving to patients spoke out yesterday about the trauma she and other nurses experienced after reporting the practice to management.
The nurse told the INO annual conference that many complaints had to be made before the issue was investigated. Even politicians had tried to intervene to protect the nurse who was being accused of wrongdoing.
"A lot of the nurses suffered ill health as a result of the whistleblowing," she said, adding that one of her colleagues had died only weeks ago and she believed the stress involved in the whistleblowing had contributed.
"She had noticed it first and she was the senior person but could not get any handle on it because of the interference. It came from every quarter, both politics and management.
"There were letters written from people in ministerial positions supporting the wrongdoing of this person because their politics were of that colour.
"This problem went on, I'd say, for the best part of six or seven years before we could do anything about it; until we threatened to go public with it.
"We were made to feel that we had done something wrong because we brought it to their notice. My own health has also suffered, and my chances of promotion have been nil since this happened."
She said the nurse who was suspected of wrongdoing finally ended up before an An Bord Altranais fitness-to-practise inquiry and had restrictions placed on her practice. However she was still working in the health service.
The nurse's comments came during discussion of a motion on the need for legislation to protect whistleblowers. All agreed that whistleblowing on bad practice was essential.
Delegates also voted not to allow the HSE or other employers to obstruct or sanction them for speaking out about the state of their working environment.
Máiréad Lyons said Beaumont hospital where she worked had recently drawn up a media policy which meant anything she or other staff wished to say in public in relation to care at the hospital had to be cleared by the hospital's chief executive.
INO general secretary Liam Doran said nurses could not be silenced by bureaucrats "sitting in ivory towers".
