Trim plays host to nursing union's annual conference

Over 320 nurses and midwives will gather in Trim today (Wednesday) for the three-day annual delegate conference of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO). A lively debate at Knightsbrook Hotel is expected with the nurses' organisation saying the mood going into the conference is "one of anger and total frustration" as they face very challenging times in the health service. The Minister for Health, Mary Harney, will address the conference on Friday. According to the INMO, some 1,900 nursing/midwifery posts have already been lost as a result of the moratorium on staffing and none of the 1,600 newly qualified graduates in 2009 were offered a post in the Irish health system. Some 1,064 beds have been closed, which is the equivalent of closing St James's Hospital in Dublin. Under the 'Croke Park' proposals, another 6,000 frontline posts will be lost from the public health service over the next three years and over 3,500 acute hospital beds will close. During the same period, 4,800 nurses and midwives will graduate but there is little likelihood of any of them being able to secure a post in Ireland, the INMO says. Members are under severe pressure trying to salvage some vestige of a health service as they struggle to do the jobs of two or three people when their colleagues retire, go on maternity leave or sick leave and are not replaced. More and more they are working in an environment where quality of care in the health service is completely jettisoned and the only focus is on finance, the union adds. A major debate will take place tomorrow (Thursday) morning commencing at 9.10am on the 'Croke Park' proposals and the INMO's recommendation of its rejection. The union's 'Alternative Agenda for Change' will be presented to delegates at this time and debated together with other motions around this issue. Speaking on the eve of the conference, INMO president Sheila Dickson said: "I have spent the last number of months travelling around the country meeting members on the ground. I am genuinely shocked by their stories and the examples they have given me on how they are struggling to cope due to the savage impact the moratorium on recruitment has had on nursing numbers. The cutbacks are having a disastrous impact on patient care and our members are genuinely fearful, not only for their own future, but also that of patients they care for. "One of the motions for consideration at conference this year is the withholding of the retention fee of €85 from An Bord Altranais. This is due to the board's failure to support the professions by issuing clear directives to nurses and midwives who are having their professional judgement, with regard to safe practice and safe care, ignored by their employers leaving their own position compromised." Other motions up for debate include an emergency motion on the Nurses and Midwives Bill, implementation of all recommendations from the final report on the Commission on Patient Safety, HIQA and a call for a Commission on Services for the Elderly. This afternoon (Wednesday) the conference will be addressd by Linda Silas, president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Union, on 'The Importance of a Professional Nurses and Midwives Union in Recessionary Times'. Tomorrow (Thursday) at 12 noon, Sara Burke, writer and health analyst, will give a keynote address on 'Saving our Public Health Service in midst of the Economic Crisis - An Opportunity or an Insurmountable Task?' On Friday, delegates will be addressed by Health Minister Mary Harney, followed by INMO president, Sheila Dickson. INMO general secretary Liam Doran said: "This year's conference is taking place against a background of the most severe cutbacks and curtailments in staffing and services that the public health service has ever faced. The current crisis is likely to continue for the next number of years and action must be taken now. Members feel that no-one is listening to frontline staff or patients and 'finance' seems to be the only show in town." He went on: "I have no doubt the conference will see very lively debate on many of the motions and, in particular, the 'Croke Park' proposals where we can expect members to outline their experiences of the harmful and debilitating impact of the crippling cuts in the health services on the ground. The agenda undoubtedly confirms the huge level of frustration currently being experienced by our members, and the outcome of the many debates will shape our position on many key issues in the coming year."