Nurses call off action as staff levels set to rise

Deep unrest over the safety of psychiatric nurses at University Hospital Galway due to inadequate staffing levels which led to a ‘work-to-rule’ has been resolved following resumed talks in the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) this week.

The Health Service Executive HSE has agreed to provide a “full complement of staff” for the Acute Unit and open a six bed High Observation Unit which had been “mothballed” since its construction in 2008 to take pressure off the larger ward.

While no firm staff numbers have been put into the agreement, the Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA) are satisfied that the agreement addresses all their safety concerns, which had led to the assault of 39 nurses since January, including one young female nurse thrown up against a fire hydrant by a male patient.

A joint PNA-HSE group will be set up to monitor the implementation of the agreement and ensure adequate staffing levels are maintained.

Industrial action began officially after talks stalled when the HSE declined to remove the threat of disciplinary moves against nurses who refused to begin their shift due on April 22 due to staff numbers.

In an extraordinary turnaround, the interim chief officer for the HSE in the west Bernard Gloster heaped fulsome praise on the psychiatric nurses.

“This unit is lucky to have many young and well qualified psychiatric nurses who are the future of our mental health services. I want to thank the PNA and local management for the very positive means by which these issues were worked out in recent days,” he enthused.

“This is certainly a very satisfactory conclusion and creates a wonderful opportunity for improved service and working relations between all.  In the course of the last few days the HSE and the Psychiatric Nurses Association achieved a lot.”

For more on this story, see this week’s Galway City Tribune