Statutory protection should be provided for nurses and midwives who blow the whistle on healthcare practices which they believe are endangering patients, the Irish Nurses' Organisation has said.
Its deputy general secretary, Dave Hughes, last night claimed there was a culture more of "cover-up than whistleblowing" in the health sector and nurses needed to know they could report concerns to employers without fear of retribution.
Today the INO will publish a position paper on whistleblowing on the second day of its annual conference in Killarney. Entitled Protection of Nurses/Midwives upon Disclosure of Practices of Concern in the Workplace, the paper states that nurses, midwives or other healthcare employees should not be victimised or discriminated against in any way, by either their employer or other employees, or have their employment threatened or terminated, as a result of making a complaint in good faith, even if that complaint is not proven.
But "care must be taken before any report or complaint is made," the document warns. It says employers should have agreed policies and procedures in place to assist employees, including managers, to deal with making, receiving and responding to complaints. The anonymity of the person making the complaint should be maintained, it adds.
Matters which might be reported, it states, could include practices that endanger health and safety of the public or other employees, negligence, or criminal conduct such as bribery, theft, fraud or other criminal activities.
"This is a very difficult issue for nurses. Last year there was a motion looking for a whistleblowers charter and this is the response to that motion," Mr Hughes said.
Meanwhile among the main items for debate at today's session will be two emergency motions drawn up by the INO executive council. They condemn the threat by health service employers to withhold a 3.5 per cent pay increase due to 30,000 INO nurses from the beginning of next month. The move, employers claim, is because the INO has breached agreements by refusing to co-operate with plans for the introduction of a new training module for healthcare assistants. The INO says the move is in retaliation for its lunchtime A&E protests.