This year’s Annual Delegate Conference held in Carlow in April, the homeland of Des Kavanagh, marked the end of an era as Des gave his valedictory address on his retirement as General Secretary of the PNA.
Des has shown unbelievable commitment and dedication to the PNA from his early days as a student nurse in Portrane until his retirement. Des was an activist for over 40 years and served as General Secretary for 25 years. Throughout his 25 years he had numerous achievements, founder member of Horatio, his leadership of the 24/7 Alliance to name but a few. I want to take this opportunity to wish Des and Marie many happy and healthy years of retirement and thank them both for their loyalty and commitment to the PNA.
I am privileged to take over the role of General Secretary and conscious of the “big shoes” to be filled. However, I can assure you that there will be no lack of commitment, dedication and determination from myself, the full-time staff and officer board to build on the legacy of Des and others to ensure that the PNA continues to grow from strength to strength.
The Summer of 2016 saw our successful industrial action in relation to recruitment and retention and I am pleased to say as we draw to the end of this year - the agreement has been substantially implemented.
- The second 50% of the community allowance is sanctioned and the funding has been transferred to the relevant CHO areas, which by now should be paid in all CHO Areas.
- To my knowledge all temporary nurses have been made permanent.
- Expressions of interest have gone out in some areas for the 28 ANP posts and the remainder are due to go out in the next couple of weeks.
- The 24/7 sub group have finalised their report the key elements are:
- Development of a 24/7 crisis resolution and home treatment team model
- 4 pilot sites to be established, 2 urban, 2 rural and then evaluated after one year in operation. The timelines for the pilot projects could not be agreed between the parties. The union’s position is that the projects should commence in 2017. The HSE staff representatives would not commit to a timeframe. Both positions are outlined in the report to the implementation group.
If there are any areas of the agreement not implemented in your area, please contact Head Office.
Although our campaign addressed some of the issues in relation to recruitment and retention we are still experiencing major problems in recruiting and retaining nurses in both mental health and intellectual disability services. At the Pay Talks last May/ June we were insistent that recruitment and retention of nurses is significantly addressed in the proposal. Since our NEC at the end of June we have met with Department of Public Expenditure and Reform DPER in relation to the recruitment and retention element of the proposal and have been given further clarification.
Nursing grades are among the first grades being examined by the Public Service Pay Commission PSPC, which under the Public Service Stability Agreement PSA will examine issues of recruitment and retention throughout the public service. PNA have submitted a comprehensive and evidence based submission to the PSPC, following their request to the trade unions. Highlights of the PNA submission will be circulated early in the New Year illustrating key factors which affect recruitment and retention of nurses. The Commission will now begin the process of examining all evidence presented. PNA have requested the opportunity to support / clarify the evidence in its submission by way of presentation if required.
I would like to extend congratulations to Ms Catherine Cocoman, Kildare Mental Health Services and Mr Liam Hamill St. Ita’s, I.D. Services on their election to the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland in the Category 4 Mental Health Representative post and Category 2 post, Intellectual Disability Representative respectively.
Peter Hughes
General Secretary
