Fórsa and the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation have served notice of industrial action to the HSE today (Monday 10th March), marking an escalation in the dispute over the effect of the HSE’s ‘Pay and Numbers Strategy’ which imposed a fixed employment ceiling across all health services, in addition to suppressing all posts that were vacant on the 31st December 2023.

The two health unions have served three weeks’ notice of the action and union members in both the HSE and Section 38 voluntary hospitals have been instructed to engage in the action, commencing with a work-to-rule and other non-cooperation actions, from Monday 31st March.

Fórsa and the INMO have created Joint Organising Committees (JOCs) in each health region, designed to gather localised information on vacant posts and staff shortages that the HSE has refused to provide.

Following a meeting of these committees on February 27th, INMO President Caroline Gourley and Cathaoirleach of Fórsa’s Health and Welfare Division Clodagh Kavanagh noted the significance of two of the country’s largest healthcare unions working together to call out the glaring issues with the HSE’s ‘Pay and Numbers Strategy’ and its ongoing impact on staff and patient safety.

Following the serving of notice to the HSE and Section 38 Voluntary Hospitals, INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said: “INMO members voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action last November to send a clear message to the HSE that moratoriums and severely restricting the recruitment of patient-facing posts is in breach of many safe staffing agreements between healthcare unions and the HSE.

“Nurses, midwives and other safety-critical professionals within the public health service must have a greater say in how hospital wards and community care areas are staffed.” 

“Nurses and midwives on the frontline are crying out for support, and they feel ignored. Instead of additional staff, they are being faced with recruitment embargoes and needless administrative obstacles” Ms Ní Sheaghdha added. “Senior decision-makers in the HSE are clearly desensitised to the risks associated with continuing to leave posts vacant. Unsafe staffing is having a detrimental impact on the health and safety of our members who are experiencing high levels of exhaustion and are extremely demoralised by constant exposure to high clinical risks.”

Fórsa’s head of Health & Welfare, Ashley Connolly said “members have continued to express frustration over the crude imposition of staff cuts since the recruitment embargo, and the replacement of the embargo with the HSE’s ‘Pay and Numbers Strategy’ last July. Part of this so called strategy was the loss of thousands of previously sanctioned posts.”

She added: “Ireland’s population is growing and it is also an ageing population. These factors demand a more robust approach to workforce planning in our Health Service. An approach that doesn’t involve spending millions on private for profit management consultancy, whose main advice appears to be the suppression of health posts that need to be filled.”

INMO Director of Industrial Relations, Albert Murphy said: “The INMO’s immediate priority is to end this recruitment moratorium so that Directors of Nursing and Midwifery have the appropriate authority to recruit and fill posts as necessary to ensure safety and to meet service demand. This will ensure that there is safe staffing at the bedside. The Irish public is all too aware of the devastating impact the Pay and Numbers Strategy is having in our acute hospitals and in community services. Our members are the ones who have to apologise to the public for a situation they did not create.

Fórsa national secretary Linda Kelly added: “The people working in the health service aren’t just numbers. Without the staff there is no health service. Our members are advocating for the resources that are needed to provide the services people desperately need. It’s time to show HSE management what happens when our members stop covering up the cracks in the HSE’s staffing strategy.” 

“The crude imposition of employment restrictions does a lot of harm, adds to patient waiting times and delays treatment. This runs in total opposition to the values our members stand for on the delivery of care,” they said.

Both unions have advised that other phased action, including work stoppages, will be considered should there be a requirement to escalate the dispute.