Angry hospital staff 'left in dark' on their future

As almost 500 workers at Our Lady's Hospital in Navan remain in the dark concerning the future of their jobs following the axing of surgical services, unions have asked the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) to intervene. Staff who are anxious about their futures are furious at the way the HSE announced the end of emergency and acute surgical services at the hospital last week, without any consultation, while local doctors say the decision has already impacted severely on patients. Doctors have described the move as a disaster for patients in Meath, warning recent developments spell the death knell for the hospital, and predicting the HSE will announce the closure of the A&E facility at the hospital shortly. Concern has also been expressed by local GPs over the case of a septic surgical patient left in A&E for over 10 hours over the weekend without any surgeon reviewing his case, as the three consultant surgeons at the hospital had been ordered not to assess anybody in casualty. A gynaecology surgery list was cancelled last week with the patients involved now put on waiting lists elsewhere and a number of other surgical procedures were cancelled. Meanwhile, more than 600 people braved the rain on Saturday to protest in Navan against the downgrading of Our Lady's Hospital. A number of speakers addressed the crowd including Tony Fitzpatrick from the INMO, Noleen O'Donoghue from SIPTU, Cllr Joe Reilly and Deputy Mayor of Navan, Cllr Peadar Tóibín. As angry hospital workers continue to speculate about their future employment, unions including the Irish Nurses' and Midwives' Organisation (INMO), SIPTU, the Irish Hospital Consultants' Association (IHCA), Impact, the Medical Laboratory Scientists' Association, and Unite met with HSE management on Monday and are due to meet again on Thursday, The unions expressed anger at the lack of consultation with staff and want the executive to explain why certain elective surgeries such as gall bladder operations had not taken place at the hospital since Tuesday of last week. Noreen O'Donoghue, vice-chairperson of the Meath SIPTU branch and a member of staff at Our Lady's, said morale in the hospital was very low and workers don't know where they stand since the announcement. "We just heard the announcement and that was it. We dont know if people will be moved and we are worried about our jobs," she said, pointing out that, under the Croke Park agreement, the HSE should have consulted with the staff before making any announcement. Tony Fitzpatrick of the INMO said the way in which the HSE broke the news to its dedicated staff was most unacceptable and inappropriate. "The lack of information provided to staff and the absence of clarity and direction from management has left our members in a precarious situation in the hours and days since the announcement was made," he said. The INMO has written to the HSE seeking urgent clarification on a number of issues including the availability of a telephone helpline for patients, what plans are in place to advise patients of the cancellation of their surgery and guidelines on the management of trauma patients arriving at the hospital by car, "The HSE's hasty action with regard to the removal of surgery has caused great confusion and concern among our members working within Our Lady's Hospital in Navan. The HSE has failed to provide any guidance with regard to how surgical patients should be managed. We have sought that the HSE immediately take steps to address these concerns in order to minimise the risk they have created," he said. Dr Niall Maguire, secretary of the Meath faculty of the Irish College of General Practitioners, expressed concern that elective surgery had also ceased at the same time as acute surgery, even though the Navan hospital was "perfectly suitable" for them. He said a report published last year had stated Navan was suitable for elective surgery and there was "no contradictory statement from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland" that such surgeries should not be carried out in the hospital. "All the evidence is that Navan Hospital is a suitable site for minor and intermediate elective surgery. For example, it's not suitable for a burst appendix, but it's suitable for varicose veins, gall bladder or hernia operations," Dr Maguire said. The North East Doctor on Call (NEDoC) service has described the move as a disaster for patients and warned it would spell the death knell for the hospital. Spokesperson Arlene Fitzsimons said they now expected the HSE to announce the closure of the A&E facility in the hospital. She said NEDoC was facing losing half its funding by the end of this year, in the middle of the winter season when the demand for our service it at its height. "This, combined with all of the announcements about Navan Hospital, are a very serious cause for concern over patient care and safety," she said. The HSE has confirmed that there is ongoing engagement with staff at the hospital and key stakeholders to deal with the practical implications of the decision taken last week.