Sir, – Few could dispute that the nurses deserve greater recognition for their skills and dedication and that their current action may be justified. I would suggest, however, they should be more imaginative in their approach.
Perhaps they could learn from their medical consultant colleagues, and insist on the “right” to private practice. Thus they would be entitled to use the facilities provided by the State to maximise their incomes, provided they agreed to tend public patients for a certain number of hours each week (which nobody would check on anyway) and accept a derisory reduction in their public salary (say 10 per cent?).
All patients with insurance may then be billed for private nursing fees, at a rate determined by the nurses themselves, with no restriction imposed by the HSE nor the Government. Private patients would be provided with nursing care immediately. Public patients may have to wait!
It should not be beyond the wit of the Irish Nurses & Midwives Organisation to devise a method for the disbursement of these private fees to their members based on qualifications, seniority and length of service.
Perhaps the Irish Medical Organisation and Irish Hospital Consultants Association could offer advice on the operation of a two-tier healthcare system. It works very well for them, so why not for the nurses? – Yours, etc,
JOHN SHIEL,
Bishopstown,
Cork.
A chara, – It is becoming increasingly difficult to attract and retain nurses to work within our healthcare system. Even so, our Government pleads the poor-mouth when it comes to paying them a decent wage – even as it commits to spending whatever it takes to build a new children’s hospital, the costs of which continue to skyrocket.
The way things are going we will have one of the finest medical facilities in the world standing empty because we won’t be able afford the staff needed to open it. – Is mise,
Rev PATRICK G BURKE,
Castlecomer,
Kilkenny.
Sir, – The nursing strike is bad news for all involved, no more so than patients who will miss out on treatment. Resolution seems some way off. But it is disappointing that most of the Opposition politicians have taken the populist option of supporting the action for all nurses to receive a significant pay increase, with the full knowledge of the potential knock-on demands that are likely to be made by other public sector unions, rather than calling for a realistic measure of addressing the high cost of living in larger cities such as Dublin. – Yours, etc,
FRANK BROWNE,
Templeogue, Dublin 16.
Sir, – In an excellent article on the number of "professionally active nurses", Dr Christine O'Malley notes correctly about the large number of nurses working part-time and in the private sector (Opinion & Analysis, Janaury 30th). I wish to also bring attention to all those "professionally active nurses" that now work all over the world but keep their registration active here at home by paying their annual fee. Many other nurses choose to remain on the active register while moving into hospital administration. Clearly the nurses described above are therefore not available to nurse in Ireland. – Yours, etc,
MONICA HURSON KELLY,
Drumree,
Co Meath.
Sir, – The potential economic implications of Brexit are real and indeed are cited by our Government as a concern when considering the nurses’ pay claim for €130 million.
Isn’t it interesting that Brexit concerns are not similarity cited when we consider the building costs of the new children’s hospital with overruns of €1.4 billion?
This state-of-the-art hospital can only serve the children and families of this country when it is adequately staffed: our trained nurses are voting with their feet and leaving Ireland.
Have our economic masters decided that infrastructure is more important than people? – Yours, etc,
MARIA DUNNE,
Dublin 4.