Mayo hospital overcrowding is on INMO's conference agenda

Mayo nurses and midwives are attending the INMO annual conference in Sligo as efforts are being escalated to have measures put in place to address hospital overcrowding.

The event will be addressed by the Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, on Friday.

The union's general secretary, Phil Ní Sheaghdha, said: “It has been an extremely busy and difficult year for our members who have had to deal with the ongoing issues stemming from Covid, hospital overcrowding and now sharp rises in the cost of living.

“Covid exposed and exacerbated many of the long-standing issues that exist within the Irish health service.

"While hospitals are places of care, for most of our members it is their place of work.

"It is the duty of the HSE as an employer to ensure that the issues that make the workplace unsafe, namely overcrowding, are tackled.

"Nurses want and need workplaces that are well ventilated, safe from verbal and physical assaults.

“Nurses are not just feeling the pressure in their workplace.

"The cost of just getting to work, especially for those that work in the community, is spiralling.

"As a member of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions Public Service Committee, I am calling on government to begin talks as allowed for under the current public sector pay agreement, Building Momentum, in order to bring some relief to our nursing and midwives.

“In addition to the conference agenda, the INMO is launching a bespoke training course for Ukrainian nurses who are now in Ireland that will help them continue with their profession while here in Ireland. The INMO has developed a program for overseas nurses which seeks to support their introduction to the Irish health service and working within it.

"We have amended this program and intend to provide it free of charge to nurses who seek refuge in Ireland from Ukraine but who wish to continue working in their profession.

"The programme spans tools for safe practice, care planning, medication management, nursing documentation, knowledge of the Irish health service, and working as a professional within it.

"The costs associated with this programme will be fully borne by the INMO."