Curtailment of Services
Last July you the members of the INMO sounded the alarm that overcrowding in our hospitals was going to be a major concern this winter. Finally, the CEO of the HSE has written to all acute hospitals warning that “the entire health system, both hospitals, and community healthcare, are now under very serious pressure”. Hospitals are now expected to cancel the elective activity. The HSE is now expecting to utilise private hospitals for urgent care, cancer, and cardiology treatments following our calls for more dependency on the private hospital system.
Booster Vaccine Programme
The booster vaccine programme is fully underway. This is critical protection for you as we enter the Winter period. Your employer has been asked by the top levels of the HSE to ensure that staff is facilitated, where possible, to attend their booster vaccination appointments while maintaining safe staffing levels.
Clarification of Special Leave with Pay scheme
Section 7 of HSE Circular 34/2021 provides that employees who are required to restrict their movements due to being a close contact of a confirmed case of COVID-19 must be facilitated to work from home – see extract below:
“Where an employee is required to restrict their movements the employer must facilitate working from home. If remote working in an employee’s current role is not feasible, then the assignment of work may be outside of their usual core duties. Employees must cooperate with all such flexibilities while they are required to restrict their movement or self-isolate.”
Derogation for exemption from the 5-day isolation rule
You may have heard today that the HSE is seeking for healthcare workers to be exempt from the five-day self-isolation rule if a member of your household becomes ill with COVID-19. We don’t think that this exemption should happen. Public health advice should apply to all sectors, including nurses and midwives. Healthcare workers should not be treated differently in terms of public health advice. The HSE and Government need to take the concerns of patient-facing staff seriously. We cannot have a situation where the highest cohort of workers who are dealing with unvaccinated patients and working in environments with poor ventilation like many of our healthcare settings, are putting their colleagues and loved ones at further risk.
We sought an urgent meeting with the HSE and we met the Chief Clinical Officer, Dr Colm Henry, Professor Martin Cormican, Dr Lynda Sisson and Dr John Cuddihy this evening – we set out our position very clearly and they are to revert with documentation on Monday. We are due to meet them again on Tuesday next – in the meantime, we will update members separately on any development in respect of this issue.
Student Nurses and Midwives Update
Following a successful INMO-led rally outside the Dail on November 2nd, Minister Donnelly has confirmed acceptance of the McHugh recommendations. The engagement has commenced on its implementation. The Student Pandemic Grant will continue, and 4th-year support will increase. Thanks for supporting our students, they are the future of our profession.