Lunchtime protest held by staff at St Mary’s Drumcar

Members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) held a lunchtime protest over budget and staffing cuts at St Mary’s Drumcar at lunchtime.

The INMO said this was the first step in its campaign to improve Intellectual Disability Services nationally.

Industrial action was voted upon by 99% of staff back in June, just days after a HIQA inspection found major non-compliances in nine of the 10 areas inspected at the St John of God-run residential centre.

Senator Mary Moran was amongst those to attend the protest and she said she was happy to support the staff.

“I was delighted to attend the protest and  show my full support for the nurses,” she said.

“Today’s protest was the first in the INMO’s Campaign for excellence in Intellectual Disability nursing. In my opinion it is imperative that the nurses in St Mary’s Drumcar receive the full support from management they deserve. I have witnessed first hand the excellent care, dedication and service that the nurses in Drumcar provide on a daily basis. Following the recent concerns raised in HIQA reports in relation to Drumcar, staff have felt their morale at an all time low despite much of the problems raised in the reports outside the control of the nursing staff.

“It is imperative that management engage with the nursing and care staff to listen to concerns. I am also extremely disappointed that despite calls made to meet with Mr John Pepper CEO of St John of God’s Services he has yet to agree to a meeting to discuss concerns. I will now raise the issues I discussed with nursing staff today with Minister Kathleen Lynch.”

Senator Mary Moran with staff on their lunchtime protest today

Adams fears health crisis in Co Louth

Adams has raised concerns over patient safety at the emergency department of Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital

Local TD Gerry Adams insists he has deep concerns at a potential crisis in health services in County Louth following a meeting with INMO representatives earlier this week

On the back of the meeting the Sinn Féin leader again made a call for an independent, root-and-branch investigation into all care facilities in the State for citizens with intellectual disabilities.

He said: “I held a very informative meeting with INMO representatives on Tuesday at which serious concerns within the health services in Louth were made clear.

“There are serious concerns over patient safety in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital Emergency Department in Drogheda.

“These problems were evident under the previous Fianna Fáil-led government and now we see failure by Fine Gael and Labour and Health Minister Leo Varadkar to address the issue.

“There are considerable frustrations that after a decade of overcrowding we still have patients lying on trolleys.

“The resulting stressful working conditions in the Emergency Department is having a major impact on staff at Our Lady of Lourdes, with resilience training recently undertaken at the hospital.

“The issue of acute beds is being directly and adversely impacted by a lack of resources in care for older people, in particular the lack of fully staffed step down beds.

“INMO representatives confirmed that Louth and its environs are the most underfunded and under resourced regions in the state in terms of the provision of services for older citizens.

“An ageing population, lack of cohesive or long-term policies, and years of underfunding under the current and previous Governments have seen long term care/respite beds and services reduced.”

Gerry Adams pictured with Tony Fitzpatrick of the INMO and David Gray of St Mary’s Drumcar

Mr Adams said the HSE was making cut after cut but said these instructions were coming from a higher level.

“The HSE appears focused on reducing staffing levels, meeting fiscal targets and implementing budgetary constraints, rather than ensuring the provision of quality care to patients. This is being driven at a national level and co-ordinated by the HSE’s so called service improvement teams.

“A failure to operate the Fair Deal scheme effectively and the lack of staffed stepdown beds has led to significant delays in patients being discharged from acute hospital beds. This is compounded by a failure to allocate funding to follow need rather than budget schedules.

“Enabling more people to stay at home requires that the serious deficits in Home Care packages are immediately addressed, as well as having sufficient funding ring fenced for housing adaptations all year round.

“Last month, members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation at St Mary’s, Drumcar, balloted for industrial action over budget cuts and inadequate staffing levels which required the intervention of the Labour Relations Commission.

“A HIQA report in June into the unit in St. Mary’s, which has 16 patients with intellectual disabilities, raised very serious concerns and highlighted major non-compliance in nine of the 10 outcomes inspected.

“Lack of sufficient funding is having a huge impact at this facility.

“While there may be longer term plans for moving people with Intellectual Disabilities into community based settings, there are also concerns as to what this will mean if sufficient funding does not follow the patient.

“Quick-fix plans based on firefighting problems as they come to light are not in anyone’s interests .

“I also discussed with the INMO representatives wider concerns that exist around facilities for people with Intellectual Disabilities in light of several critical HIQA reports.

“In this regard, I wish to repeat the calls I have previously made for an independent, root-and-branch investigation into all care facilities in the State for citizens with intellectual disabilities.”

Mr Adams added that currently there are 11 beds closed in the Louth County Hospital in Dundalk and four more at Boyne View House in Drogheda due to nursing shortages.

INMO vote for industrial action at St Mary’s Drumcar

Members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation at St John of God North East Services, St Mary’s, Drumcar, have voted by 99% in favour of industrial action due to budget cuts and a reduction in staffing levels. The INMO intends to serve notice of industrial action this week.

The Organisation has written to HSE Director General, Tony O’Brien seeking an investigation as to why the HSE Service Improvement Team has sought a reduction in staffing and skill mix at the same time as the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) has stated that insufficient staffing levels are having a negative effect on residents within the service, which provides residential and day care for people with disabilities.

The INMO is gravely concerned at the recent HIQA report. Budgets have been cut consistently over the last 5 years and staffing levels reduced to unsustainable levels. Despite a negative HIQA report, management at St John of God Services have written to the INMO in recent weeks indicating their wish to:

1. Further reduce staffing and skill mix within the service;
2. Introduce a cost containment plan as they have overspent by two million euro to the end of May 2015; and,
3. Have non registered staff administer medication instead of the Registered Nurse in Intellectual Disability (RNID).

Speaking about the matter, INMO Industrial Relations Officer, Tony Fitzpatrick said: “The problems currently highlighted within these two centres are widespread especially with regard to inadequate staffing. However nurses, and other frontline staff, go to work every day and, to the best of their ability, use their uniquely acquired skills to provide good quality care and service to their clients.

“They come in on days off, work late, work through their shift without lunch or breaks, while always striving to deliver maximum comfort and quality of life to those in their care. They do this in the face of dwindling resources and extra demands but they do their job with compassion and professionalism which is at the core of disability nursing.”

The INMO and other unions have attempted to engage with management to address concerns over the last 6 months in order to develop workable solutions to ensure the provision of quality care to service users. They are awaiting a date for a meeting further to requests for same.

Mr Fitzpatrick concluded:  “The INMO is gravely concerned at what appears to be an attempt by St John of God Services to de-professionalise the provision of services to people with intellectual disability.  Our members have indicated that they will stand up for the rights of the clients within the services to receive the best possible care.

“We have highlighted our concerns around the Services’ attitude to the role of the Registered Nurse in Intellectual Disability (RNID). We believe any dilution of the RNID role results in a diminution of services to clients.”