Monday 10th January 2022: The Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA ) today (Monday ) welcomed a recommendation from Independent Body Examining Additional Working Hours chaired by Kieran Mulvey that working time in the public service should be restored to pre-Haddington Road Agreement levels from the 1st of July 2022.
PNA General Secretary Peter Hughes said the imposition of additional unpaid hours since their introduction in 2013 had impacted negatively on the morale of nurses in the mental health services and had been a further barrier to the retention of nurses.
“The recommendation by the Independent Body will help restore morale particularly after the extraordinary demands that mental health nurses have faced, and the dedication they have shown, over the past two years. The recommendation will be important in the efforts to retain nurses in the mental health services where we are already seeing evidence of nurses being attracted to take up posts abroad in places such as Canada and Australia.”
Media Contact : Derek Cunningham 086 2430535
