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Liam Doran Laura Hutton/Photocall Ireland

INMO and HSE at odds over whether additional savings of €80m are being sought

The INMO says the savings are being sought – the HSE says this is incorrect.

THE IRISH NURSES and Midwives Organisation (INMO) is seeking urgent meetings with Ministers and the HSE over the latest HSE plans under the Haddington Road Agreement (HRA).

The INMO believes that the latest management proposal will “seriously compromise patient safety” if it is implemented, and so wants it withdrawn.

It said:

The HSE, while acknowledging that the INMO, and other health service unions, are fully compliant with their obligations under the Haddington Road Agreement, has now brought forward a new set of measures required to deliver further cash savings of €80 million.

HSE’s response

In response, the HSE said it is “simply seeking to implement the terms of the Haddington Road Agreement which the INMO signed up to”.

The HSE said “it is not correct to say that the HSE ‘is seeking an additional €80m’”, and that it is in fact seeking to achieve the original target set for it of €290m.

“This money has already been removed from the HSE’s vote allocation,” it said, adding:

The HSE requires the extra hours identified under the agreement to be used in the first instance to reduce the health sector pay bill as per the intention of the agreement. The HSE is extremely cognisant of the importance of patient safety and considers it a priority above all else.

Concerns

The INMO said that the latest proposals, which were presented to unions last week, are all focused on the frontline and include:

  • A further reduction in staffing
  • Reduction in the skill mix
  • Filling nursing vacancies, in the community, with newly graduated nurses. “This is contrary to best practice,” says the INMO
  • Reduction in the number of operational nurse managers in the care of the older person sector
  • Substitution of experienced/trained support staff, in other sectors, with new staff under the support staff intern programme.

The INMO described the latest plan as “the most damaging set of measures brought forward in recent years”. In response, it has sought immediate meetings with the three Ministers in the Department of Health to demand the plans be withdrawn.

It is also seeking a meeting with the Oireachtas Health Committee to detail its concerns at the impact of these measures on patient safety, and a meeting with the Director of Patient Safety and Quality in the HSE.

In addition, the INMO will be seeking discussions with patient support groups and other professional groups/representatives on the plan.

The INMO will also be advising all of its members “that they are fully compliant with their obligations under Haddington Road”.

We shall also advise them that they cannot agree, under their Code of Conduct, to any changes/initiatives which they believe will negatively impact upon patient care and safety and the ability of nurses and midwives to deliver safe care through safe practice.

Cash savings

INMO General Secretary Liam Doran said that these proposals are “totally driven by the demand for the health service to deliver further cash savings”.

He said they have not been subject to a patient safety audit or risk assessment and “there is no question” but that these measures will “gravely compromise patient safety and the ability of nurses and midwives to deliver safe care through safe practice”.

Read: Nurse to patient ratio is becoming unsafe says INMO>

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34 Comments
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    Mute Brandon Steers
    Favourite Brandon Steers
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    Oct 30th 2014, 2:32 PM

    Nut job

    179
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    Mute Jason Bourne
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    Oct 30th 2014, 3:03 PM

    A perfect example of one.

    54
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    Mute John Bransfield
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    Oct 30th 2014, 2:43 PM

    How was he found guilty of only four attempted murders if he shot at hundreds of vehicles? He should be put in an asylum for life, he’s obviously not sane.

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    Mute The Green Monkey
    Favourite The Green Monkey
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    Oct 30th 2014, 2:35 PM

    They were unable to catch the man for years, partly because drivers did not immediately realise their vehicles had been hit and partly because German data protection laws prevented investigators from using CCTV footage from motorway toll-booths……..

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    Mute Darren Cooke
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    Oct 30th 2014, 2:58 PM

    Toll-Booths in Germany? Autobahn is free no?

    43
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    Mute Michael Barry
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    Oct 30th 2014, 4:05 PM

    Not for trucks. They will introduce tolls in the future for cars, vans etc. They want to catch foreign registered cars who. The German driver will not pay anything extra, as the toll will be included in the road tax. They will reduce road tax and charge the difference as a toll back to the original amount. This way they are not technically discriminating against foreign cars.

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    Mute Kilbur
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    Oct 30th 2014, 4:12 PM

    Not every road in Germany is an Autobahn

    34
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    Mute Paul Downes
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    Oct 30th 2014, 5:42 PM

    No toll booths on German motorways. Although tolls are being introduced this week for the first time. Still bo booths though.

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    Mute Meehawwl O' Buachailla
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    Oct 30th 2014, 6:38 PM

    Either way the autobahns are the most controlled and monitored motorways in the world with more cameras per kilometre than anywhere else.

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    Mute The Green Monkey
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    Oct 30th 2014, 6:50 PM

    Germany began charging an autobahn toll for trucks in 2003, passenger car drivers can still drive the Autobahn without any extra charges (so far).

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    Mute Paul Downes
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    Oct 30th 2014, 9:40 PM

    Well done good research. However “Maut” was introduced this week in certain parts and we’ll all have it soon.

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    Mute Thomas Mcdonagh
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    Oct 30th 2014, 3:27 PM

    If i had, had a gun everytime a donut in an audi cuts me up, i would be in trouble

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    Mute Charlie Mountney
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    Oct 30th 2014, 7:51 PM

    Ah the audi driver. No wonder he was pissed off. There must be a lot of them in Germany.

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    Mute Mary Lyons
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    Oct 30th 2014, 3:23 PM

    Gives a whole new meaning to road rage!

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    Mute Thomas O'Sullivan
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    Oct 30th 2014, 3:51 PM

    Was it a spud gun or what, Seems like there should of least 1 fatality out of 700 instances, even if he was shooting blindly, 700 seems like a made up number.

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    Mute John Heffernan
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    Oct 30th 2014, 2:37 PM

    I’ll be back…..!

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    Mute Stephen Griffith
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    Oct 30th 2014, 4:21 PM

    GTA 5

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    Mute michaelhenry
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    Oct 30th 2014, 5:16 PM

    A shooting driver goes to jail because he thought he was the only one who paid road tax and thought the roads belonged to him- he more than likely thought he was the only one who could drive / the only one who knew the road rules-( except the road rule about not shooting at other people-

    He will not be on many roads in prison- but I am sure that he will drive his cell mate around the bend-

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    Mute Tony Le Blanc
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    Oct 30th 2014, 7:17 PM

    There could be a lot of traffic on his south link tunnel in prison

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    Mute Pat Lennon
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    Oct 30th 2014, 4:29 PM

    Haha wrong story.

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    Mute Robert Beatty
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    Oct 30th 2014, 7:13 PM

    The front of that truck should read MAD MAN

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