The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation will begin a period of consultation with its members on a campaign of industrial action over hospital overcrowding.
The decision follows the worst week of hospital overcrowding on record in Ireland, with HSE interim CEO Stephen Mulvaney telling RTE Radio One this morning that he cannot say for certain that "it won't get worse before it gets better".
This morning 535 patients were waiting to access a hospital bed, according to INMO figures. INMO General Secretary, Phil Ní Sheaghda, announced the decision to consider strike action this afternoon, saying the overcrowding over the past week was "totally avoidable".
Read more: Trolley numbers could pass the 1,000 mark as HSE chief warns worst is yet to come
“The Executive Council of the INMO, made up of working nurses and midwives, have today taken the decision to begin a period of consultation on a campaign of industrial action in pursuance of safe staffing levels that are underpinned with legislation and clinical facilitation in all hospitals to ensure a safe skills mix," he said.
“What has transpired this week in our hospitals was totally avoidable. For too long nurses and midwives have been warning that we were going to see an overcrowding blackspot in January unless serious and meaningful action was taken. While many will try to laud the fact that we have seen a decrease of patients on trolleys from 931 to 535, we won’t be part of attempts to justify this as an improvement.
“Nurses and midwives expect and deserve to work in a safe practice environment in which they can deliver the safe and excellent care they are trained to provide.”
INMO President Karen McGowan said that levels of burnout among nurses and midwives "are at an all time high". She said: “We will now begin a period of consultation pertaining to industrial action.
"Nurses and midwives are being asked to crisis manage a situation that is of our employers’ own making. We know that levels of burnout are at an all-time high.
“We must now take whatever action is deemed necessary to ensure that we do not endure this level of danger in our workplaces in the coming months and years ahead on a continuous replay mode. We will now commence a series of information and consultation meetings with members over the next month.”
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