I raise public concern about the deteriorating industrial relations situation at St. Columcille's Hospital, Loughlinstown. On 14 March 2001 the hospital management was informed by the INO that theatre nurses would no longer provide excessive on-call cover for out-of-hours service. These nurses are paid £13.30 for being on-call for a night. Most of them are job-sharing and yet they do the equivalent on-call duty a full-time nurse does. The contribution of these nurses is such that it is clear that the withdrawal of their services would create a significant risk to emergency patient care. Only by the hospital authorities fully addressing the issues raised by the nurses could patient care be safeguarded. Regrettably, this has not happened.
I have no intention of getting into the area of industrial relations. I know meetings were held between management and the INO and that the Labour Relations Commission was involved and that action was suspended for a while. Despite any efforts that have been made, there has not been a resolution of the ongoing dispute and this is causing grave concern among the public and professionals working in the hospital, particularly now we are facing a deterioration in services.
Last weekend there was no on-call cover available and this Tuesday there was no on-call cover either. The hospital arrangements for emergencies during those times is to have an ambulance available to transfer patients to other hospitals like St. Vincent's. This is totally unsatisfactory. The patient may not be able to sustain the journey to another hospital and even when the patient can, there is no guarantee that a hospital as busy as St. Vincent's will be able to attend to that patient on arrival. We all know the horror stories of patients lying on trolleys for days in accident and emergency departments.
The failure to deal with this issue increases the pressure on other hospitals as well as heightening the level of danger should a major emergency occur in Wicklow. This dispute is not only affecting the capability of the hospital to respond to out-of-hours emergencies but creates problems for operations during the day. Admittance to the accident and emergency department can similarly be curtailed. This situation is so serious that I understand there have been reported requests from medical professionals to close down the accident and emergency department altogether as a safety precaution rather than put the public at risk.
From this Friday, if the dispute is not resolved, it is expected that there will be no out-of-hours cover for the following ten consecutive days. We are entering a new and worrying phase during which the risks for people in County Wicklow and south County Dublin are increasing rather than lessening. It is vital that everything is done to resolve this dispute quickly. The Labour Court usually takes four to six weeks before hearing a case but we cannot wait that long. I ask the Minister for Health and Children with the senior management of the Eastern Health Board to co-operate with the INO in reaching a settlement in the interest of patients and the professionals who care for them.