Nurses to stage protest over working conditions at Mayo University Hospital

Nursing staff at Mayo University Hospital will protest outside the hospital today (Monday) to highlight excessive workloads and staffing pressure.

The INMO has stated that staff in the hospital are unable to take adequate breaks or use their annual leave due to their excessive workloads.

And despite formal grievances being raised by staff with the Saolta hospital group, as well as union escalation, no improvements have been made to working conditions.

The union is calling for a robust set of proposals to be urgently provided by the Saolta group and hospital management in order to bring the issue to conciliation at the Workplace Relations Commission.

INMO Industrial Relations Officer for Galway, Mayo and Roscommon, Anne Burke said: “This is simply a matter of safety.

"Admissions to hospital are creeping up alongside COVID numbers and it’s not possible to keep staff and patients safe in these conditions.

“Staff in the hospital cannot keep up this relentless pace without some sort of relief, and we are going to see large numbers leaving nursing over the coming months if management don’t take steps to lighten the load.

“It’s beyond time for a workable winter plan for the entire health service as well as robust measures in hard-hit acute hospitals.

"We can’t afford to have burnout and exhaustion across the workforce as we head into a very dangerous and busy winter."

The protest is scheduled to get underway at 1 p.m.