BREAKING: All Emergency Department nursing posts will be filled

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) has secured confirmation from the HSE that all 144 vacant nursing posts in the country’s Emergency Departments will be filled.

The news comes despite the recent announcement that there would be a pause on recruitment from the HSE.

The confirmation, that all posts will be filled, was given at the third Review of the ED Agreement, reached in January, between the HSE/Department of Health and the INMO, which was chaired by the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) on Monday.

This part of the ED Agreement provides for the filling of over 144 staff nurse posts, in emergency departments across the country, as part of a comprehensive ED Agreement. 

This agreement also provides for a system wide escalation policy, weekly meetings between senior management and the INMO and ongoing health and safety and hygiene audits of all emergency departments.

The meeting also noted that the level of overcrowding this year, to date, is almost identical with the level of overcrowding which took place in 2015. 

However the figures for the first three weeks of May, in 2016 compared to last year, indicate a 10% reduction with 4,766 admitted patients on trolley’s, compared to 5,324 in the first three weeks of May in 2015.

Monday's review also considered a number of other issues including the appointment of an Assistant Director of Nursing in each ED, with responsibility for patient flow, and an additional Clinical Nursing Manager post, in 15 hospitals, with responsibility for admitted patients held in ED’s, when no beds are available. 

The need to have greater transparency with regard to the presence of senior clinical decision makers, out of hours and at weekends, in a number of hospitals; and

The WRC will convene the parties again on Monday July 25 to undertake its fourth review, of the implementation of the ED Agreement, and begin preparing for the autumn/winter period later this year.

The meeting also noted that a special four person expert group, also provided for in the Agreement, including one nominee from the INMO will be established immediately.  This will recommend staffing levels for all 26 EDs across the country and report within 10 weeks.