Our members have overwhelmingly voted in favour of industrial action up to and including strike in pursuit of an increase in measures to sufficiently address the recruitment and retention crisis in nursing. This is a clear indication of the frustration felt by our members.
The Public Service Pay Commission’s final report in May 2017 identified recruitment and retention difficulties in nursing. The Public Service Stability Agreement 2018-2020 addressed the recruitment and retention issue by recommending that the Commission would comprehensively examine the recruitment and retention issue. The Commission’s report Module 1, dealing with recruitment and retention of nurses and medical staff was published in September 2018.
The Pay Commission recommended a 20% increase in both the location and qualification allowances i.e.;€371.60 and €558.20 per annum respectively and a reduction in the eligibility criteria for senior staff nurse from 20 years to 17 years. The Commission also recommended that the post 2011 entrant salary scales would be addressed. This resulted in measures to bypass point 4 and point 8 of the incremental pay scales from the 1st March 2019. Full details available on the website, www.pna.ie
Our National Executive Committee (NEC) adopted a motion at their meeting on the 26th September to ballot on the measures proposed and to reject same as the Executive did not believe they were sufficient to address the recruitment and retention crisis in nursing. The subsequent ballot endorsed this position with a 94% rejection of the measures proposed. The NEC reassembled on the 15th November and adopted a motion to “ballot for industrial action up to and including strike action in pursuit of our claim for an increase in measures to sufficiently address the recruitment and retention crisis in nursing.
The PNA have signed up to the Public Service Stability Agreement 2018-2020, of which the Public Service Pay and Pensions Act 2017 gives legal effect to the Agreement. The following are a range of penalties in respect of public servants not covered by the Public Service Stability Agreement;
- The Pay Commission proposals and new entrant proposals may not be applied
- Increments may be suspended
- Pay increases may be delayed
- PRD (Pension Levy) adjustments may be delayed
The nursing crisis in the Mental Health Services is exacerbating month by month. There were 500 vacancies last November 2017 and at the end of August 2018 this had increased by 40% to 700 vacancies, this is totally unsustainable. A HSE analysis conducted in 2016 showed that over 34% of Psychiatric Nurses are eligible to retire in the next 5 years, we are now midway through that timeline. The filling of the 700 vacancies would only permit the service to standstill, however to fully implement Vision for Change would require up to another 2,000 nurses.
The reality is that there are ongoing nursing vacancies which are impacting daily on the delivery of Mental Health Services and service development. The expensive and inappropriate reliance on agency and overtime is masking the true scale of the staffing crisis and is impacting on the quality of service provided. It is time for Government to accept the reality that the only way to address this crisis is to pay a decent wage.
The outcome of the ballot sends a clear message to Government that the measures proposed fall far short of addressing the recruitment and retention crisis and we are calling for meaningful and constructive engagement with the relevant Departments to avert action. However, should this not happen we will be left with no option but to engage in action.
PNA Officer Board will convene on the 10th January to decide on our course of action.
I would like to wish all the membership a happy and peaceful Christmas and every good wish for the new year.
