Unions appeal to LRC over hospital

The Labour Relations Commission has been asked to intervene “urgently” by health unions angry at the manner in which the HSE …

The Labour Relations Commission has been asked to intervene “urgently” by health unions angry at the manner in which the HSE decided to cease emergency and acute surgery at Our Lady’s Hospital in Navan last week.

HSE management in the northeast met for over two hours this morning with unions including the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO), Siptu, the Irish Hospital Consultants Association, Impact, MLSA, and Unite to discuss the issue.

The executive said last Wednesday that acute and emergency surgery would stop with immediate effect, citing “expert external clinical advice” for the decision.

Unions claimed today that management had failed to provide them with that expert advice but had given a commitment to provide it at a further meeting on Thursday.

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The unions also said they wanted the executive to explain why certain elective surgeries such as gall bladder operations had not taken place at the hospital since last Tuesday.

IHCA, assistant general secretary Donal Duffy said that at today’s meeting, management had “admitted they had breached their obligations on consultation”.

The INMO said the failure of the executive to engage with the relevant stakeholders prior to this major announcement was “clearly in breach of the Employees (Information and Consultation) Act 2006, the Public Service Agreement and agreements linked to the transformation agenda in the north east”.

INMO representative Tony Fitzpatrick said the executive had failed to consult unions and staff on an issue that would have “massive consequences”.

Dr Niall Maguire, secretary of the Meath faculty of the Irish College of General Practitioners, expressed concern about the cancellation of elective surgeries at the hospital since last week. He said elective procedures had been “swept away” at the same time as acute surgery, even though it was “perfectly suitable to Navan”.

Dr Maguire said a report published last year had stated this to be the case and there was “no contradictory statement from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland” that such surgeries should not be carried out in the hospital.

The RCSI has supported the health executive’s decision to cease emergency acute surgical services from September 1st following a “significant fall-off” in emergency surgical procedures carried out there.

“All the evidence is that Navan hospital is a suitable site for minor and intermediate elective surgery, for example it’s not suitable for a burst appendix, but it’s suitable for varicose veins, gall bladder or hernia operations,” Dr Maguire said.

Dr Doiminic Ó Brannagáin, clinical director of the Louth-Meath Hospital Group said last week that because of the volume and complexity of the surgical activity at Navan it was “no longer tenable” to perform acute and emergency surgeries and they should be moved to alternative sites.

In a statement, the HSE described the meeting as “a very good and constructive engagement”. It said both sides have agreed to reconvene on Thursday when a number of issues raised at today's meeting will be addressed.

The executive said there was “ongoing engagement with staff and key stakeholders to deal with the practical implications of the decision”.

Standing orders were suspended at a meeting of Meath County Council today to debate the decision. Some councillors claimed lives had been put at risk by it.

Meath Fine Gael TD Damien English said there was “clearly no medical evidence” to withdraw all surgical services from Our Lady’s Hospital and he said accused the health executive of “spinning" when it claimed the closures were on medical grounds.