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Created: Tuesday, 22 May 2018 10:39
The Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA) today (Tuesday 22nd May) called for the introduction of Advanced Nurse Practitioners and the opening of a number of Day Hospitals throughout the country as a means of tackling the worsening crisis in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).
PNA General Secretary, Peter Hughes, said a meeting of psychiatric nurses working in CAMHS from around the country has unanimously agreed that the HSE must introduce new measures to allow faster access to child and adolescent psychiatric services. The nurses met in response to new figures released last week which showed that the number of children and young people waiting over a year to access Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services increased by 10% between February and March with the overall waiting list for the service predicted to exceed 3,000 before the year's end if the current trend continues.
Mr Hughes said the figures confirm the experience of psychiatric nurses throughout the country that CAMHS are in chaos as a result of a under-staffing and under – resourcing.
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Created: Monday, 14 May 2018 16:21
The Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA) said today (Monday, 14 th May) that the latest figures for the number of children and young people waiting over a year to see the state's Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) are extremely disappointing and confirm the PNA's assessment that the delivery of CAMHS services throughout the country is chaotic as a result of a understaffing and under – resourcing.
PNA General Secretary, Peter Hughes said the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Future of Mental Health Care in its Interim Report in December last had proposed that in order to reduce waiting lists that nurses should be able to provide the initial assessment for access to CAMHS services.
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Created: Thursday, 12 April 2018 11:36
CONFERENCE CONDEMS LACK OF PROGRESS IN PROVISION OF CHILD AND ADOLESCENT MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES AND CONTINUED PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN IN ADULT UNITS
The current shortage of nurses in mental health services will only get worse, and services will deteriorate further, unless the current Public Service Pay Commission process results in significant pay measures for nurses, including pay parity with therapy grades the General Secretary of the Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA) told the union's Annual Delegate Conference meeting in Cavan today ( Thursday 12 th April.)
PNA General Secretary, Peter Hughes said:
‘ The PNA cannot and will not accept anything less than a significant meaningful recommendation by the Public Service Pay Commission to address nurses pay and Conference this morning mandated the union to support a ballot for industrial action, up to and including strike, if those pay measures do no come from the Pay Commission.'
‘Should the Public Service Pay Commission fail to recommend remedial pay measures then the chance for this country to resolve this impending crisis will be lost for a generation with very serious implications for the delivery and development of mental health services and patient care.'
Mr Hughes said a ‘culture of emigration' has developed for graduating Irish nurses, and recruitment and retention into the Irish health services will only be solved by significant increases in nurses pay. He said experts already predict that there is likely to be a significant push to recruit Irish nursing graduates in post Brexit UK and unless there are improvements in nurses pay which close the gap between salaries here and those available to nurses emigrating to UK, Australia and Canada, then the Irish health services will lose another generation of nursing graduates'.
Mr Hughes said the scale of the recruitment crisis facing the mental health services is stark.
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Created: Tuesday, 20 February 2018 08:55
Psychiatric Nurses (members of the Psychiatric Nurses Association, PNA) today (Tuesday 20 th Feb.) commenced industrial action, while colleagues in Kilkenny escalated their current industrial action, in protest at the continuing overcrowding and under staffing of psychiatric units in Waterford and Kilkenny.
Today's commencement of industrial action in the Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Waterford (UHW), and in residential units at Grangemore, St. Aidens and Ard na Deise involves psychiatric nurses not co-operating with non nursing duties. Meanwhile, in a direct response to the continuing overcrowding in St Lukes Acute Psychiatric Unit, in Kilkenny (where there were 50 patients in the 44 unit at the weekend) nurses there are escalating their industrial action (which has been in place since December last) to the next phase.
In both cases nurses have balloted overwhelmingly for action up to and including strike.
PNA Industrial Relations Officer, Michael Hayes said nurses were embarking on industrial action reluctantly, but have been left with no choice in order to protect service delivery to patients and ensure the safety of both clients and staff in services across Waterford and Kilkenny.
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Created: Tuesday, 20 February 2018 08:55
Psychiatric Nurses (members of the Psychiatric Nurses Association, PNA) today (Tuesday 20 th Feb.) commenced industrial action, while colleagues in Kilkenny escalated their current industrial action, in protest at the continuing overcrowding and under staffing of psychiatric units in Waterford and Kilkenny.
Today's commencement of industrial action in the Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Waterford (UHW), and in residential units at Grangemore, St. Aidens and Ard na Deise involves psychiatric nurses not co-operating with non nursing duties. Meanwhile, in a direct response to the continuing overcrowding in St Lukes Acute Psychiatric Unit, in Kilkenny (where there were 50 patients in the 44 unit at the weekend) nurses there are escalating their industrial action (which has been in place since December last) to the next phase.
In both cases nurses have balloted overwhelmingly for action up to and including strike.
PNA Industrial Relations Officer, Michael Hayes said nurses were embarking on industrial action reluctantly, but have been left with no choice in order to protect service delivery to patients and ensure the safety of both clients and staff in services across Waterford and Kilkenny.
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