Industrial action is scheduled to take place at Mayo General Hospital on Monday next (subject to ongoing negotiations ) while a protest march is being organised for Sunday February 5 next in Ballina, in response to drastic new health service cuts set to affect hospitals in Mayo, as announced as part of the new HSE National Service Plan this week.
The SIPTU organised industrial action at Mayo General is in protest at the outsourcing of vacant support staff posts in its cleaning department, with SIPTU claiming that hospital management have refused to negotiate a settlement to date.
Meanwhile, Matt Farrell, chairman of Ballina & Districts Trades Council, reports that a protest march “to demonstrate our concern of the confirmation that 12 of the 62 hospital beds have been closed in St Joseph’s District Hospital, Ballina, is being organised to take place at 3pm on Sunday February 5 next”.
“We would like to invite all members of our community who share our concern and outrage to join us on this march and strongly appeal to the many organisations in our locality to join us on this protest,” Mr Farrell said. “The potential detrimental affect these closures will have on the vulnerable members of our community is incalculable.”
Unprecedented health service cuts announced by the HSE in its National Service Plan 2012 this week, which are designed to meet a required total cost reduction for the HSE for 2012 of €750m from its allocated budget of €13.317bn, include the planned closure of between 555 and 898 public nursing home beds over the coming 12 months and a reduction of 500,000 home help hours.
This follows on from cuts of €1.75 billion over the past two years, staff reductions of 8,700 since 2007, and the expected departure of 3,000 staff by next month.
The bed closures planned for Mayo include 16 beds in the male surgical unit at Mayo General and 19 care of the elderly beds in Belmullet District Hospital, as well as 12 beds in Ballina District Hospital. So severe are the cuts that even the CEO of the HSE, Cathal Magee, acknowledged they will seriously test the health service, stating: “2012 will be a very challenging year for the health services”.
New figures also released this week show that the past year has been the worst ever for the Irish health service in relation to the number of people left waiting for medical attention on trolleys.
Overall in Irish hospitals last week there was an increase of 14 per cent in trolley numbers to 86,481. However despite the fact that the emergency department at Mayo General Hospital is regularly overcrowded, figures show that the number of patients on trolleys there is actually decreasing, with 599 recorded on trolleys during 2011 compared to 2,285 in 2006; 1,391 in 2007; 1,207 in 2008; 1,454 in 2009; and 1,760 in 2010.
The fact that Mayo General and other hospitals are now subject to fines in the event of patients being kept on trolleys by the HSE has added to the workload of staff who must make every effort to keep servicing patients presenting at the hospital for treatment. While latest figures for Wednesday and Thursday of this week show that Mayo General Hospital had just four people waiting on trolleys, the reality is that the emergency department at the hospital is extremely stretched.
According to Dave Hughes of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO ), the trolley figures relate to patients placed on trolleys after they have been treated and admitted to hospital, and do not refer to newly arrived casualties.
Age Action has stated the HSE cuts will hurt the sickest and most dependant of older people.
“The loss of so many public beds and the scale of the cuts in the home help service provided by the HSE will undoubtedly be felt by the sickest of older people,” Age Action spokesman Eamon Timmins warned. “Without home help service frail older people will struggle, and those requiring round the clock nursing home care will end up being admitted to acute hospitals for their care if a nursing home bed is not available.”
According to INMO general secretary, Liam Doran: “The Service Plan for 2012 will have serious implications for frontline services and, by extension, the overcrowding that occurs in hospital emergency departments.”
“Every person using our public health service is particularly vulnerable and, regardless of funding difficulties, the system cannot compromise with regard to the provision of safe care through safe practice which fully meets their needs.”
Those interested in supporting the Ballina protest march are invited to call 096 70885 or email [email protected]
