Nurses angry over 50 hike in registration fee
Senator Thomas Byrne claims that frontline health services in the north-east could be put under enormous strain if the row between nurses and their regulating body is not resolved.
The nursing board has implemented a 50 per cent increase in its registration fee, which nurses say is unjustified. The Nursing and Midwifery Board (NMBI) has increased the fee from €100 to €150 to support the significant changes in the fitness to practise area.
This includes the introduction of a new preliminary proceedings committee and an upgrade to its systems, given that continuing professional development will become a mandatory requirement for nurses and midwives.
According to Senator Byrne: 'Nurses are rightly very annoyed about the 50 per cent increase they're being asked to pay in their registration fee. What's worse is the fact that there is almost no choice.'
If the registration fee remains unpaid, nurses working in Navan, Drogheda and other hospitals across the country have been told that it will be illegal for them to practise after 1st January.
'I know many nurses working in our frontline services in Meath and Louth every day and they are very unhappy with what they see as a really unfair increase in this fee,' he said. 'It is not something they have any control over and they feel this is being used to generate more revenue. Nurses effectively feel they’re being threatened with their careers.'
Meanwhile, the HSE has confirmed that it will not be in a position to employ nurses and midwives without their certification of registration. The NMBI has also reiterated that nurses must pay the €150 fee by 1st January.
'There are over 60,000 nurses working in our health services and they should not be unfairly targeted or singled out for fee increases,' said Senator Byrne. 'Fianna Fáil will be raising this with the Minister for Health. The Nursing and Midwifery Board is accountable to the Oireachtas and I am not convinced of the justification for this level of increase to date.'