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PARAMEDICS ACROSS THE country are to be sent ballot papers as they prepare to vote on potential industrial action.
Siptu members of the National Ambulance Service (NAS) are to receive the ballots in the early days of next week.
They will be asked to cast their votes on action up to and including strike action.
A regional organiser for Siptu confirmed the news to The Journal, speaking on condition of anonymity as an official statement on the process is due to be released tomorrow.
Paramedics have long threatened the action over what they have described as unprecedented pressure being placed on staff. The majority of the nation’s paramedics belong to the Siptu trade union.
In recent years, paramedics have said they have had to contend with serious staff shortages as well as burnout as a result of working during Covid.
A text message sent to Siptu members on behalf of the union, seen by The Journal, says workers will receive their ballots next week. They will then vote on potential action.
This publication has also learned that off-duty paramedics are being urged to return from leave in a bid to alleviate the current crisis within the system.
The health service is coming under an increasing amount of pressure at the moment due to the number of patients presenting with respiratory viruses.
While Covid and RSV are significant factors, officials have singled out influenza as being of particular concern, with cases increasing rapidly and no clear indication of when they might peak.
One text message sent to paramedics on behalf of the NAS and seen by this publication reads:
“The NAS across the country is experiencing a significant demand for acute patient care. The NAS would appeal to all off-duty ICOs (intermediate care officers), paramedics, advanced paramedics and officers to please consider giving your time to support and help with this current surge in demand.”
Earlier this week, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said that the HSE was to call on senior medical staff, including consultants, to come in at weekends over the next few weeks to help ease the pressure on the system.
That move was today criticised by the Irish Medical Organisation, which insisted that the commitment of the medical workforce was not the issue, adding: “The problems are lack of capacity, lack of beds and the chronic shortage in consultant numbers.”
New figures today from nursing union the INMO showed that the number of patients waiting for beds in Irish hospitals had fallen for the second day in a row.
The union said that 639 admitted patients were waiting for beds this morning, with 473 waiting in emergency departments and a further 166 on wards elsewhere in hospitals.
It is a fall from the 931 patients who were without beds in Irish hospitals on Tuesday.
In a Cabinet meeting yesterday Donnelly told government colleagues that up to the week of Christmas, 2,331 laboratory confirmed cases of flu were identified in hospitals, compared with around 1,000 cases in the same period in 2019.
Of these, 637 were hospitalised compared to 350 in 2019.
The minister added that there had been a 14% increase in the number of people over 75 attending Emergency Departments when compared to 2019.
Siptu’s communictions department had not responded to a request for comment on the ballot for industrial action at the time of publication.
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Fair play to anyone working in emergency services, don’t know how they deal with the anti social hours and low pay for the crap they have to deal with on a daily basis. 100% support them in getting better pay and conditions !
I was speaking to an ambulance worker they were saying they get around €15 an hour.
These guys are out there saving lives working unsociable hours and dealing with horrific conditions thoughts and images which don’t leave you after you clock off.
It’s not good enough they deserve better, all doctors and nurses deserve better.
In recent years, since the NAS changed their service protocols, a crew can be sent almost anywhere in the country. Obviously they call the nearest available ambulance, but due to staffing issues (that the NAS failed to resolve), crews are regularly sent 100′s of Kms from their ambulance base stations. As a serving member of AGS, I can vouch to the crazy demands being placed on the NAS at the moment. Regularly, when we request an ambulance, they have none to dispatch. During the recent freezing, there was one night when there was a backlog of 35 calls for the NAS that they couldn’t get to. Regularly AGS and County Fire Service units are bringing sick and injured people to hospitals. 6 months ago I brought a stroke victim from Clare to Limerick UH.
@John Costello: That person is getting a bed tomorrow
@John Costello: a lot of these queued cases are silly cases like a stubbed toe or minor injury where no ambulance is really required.The week before Christmas Dublin Fire brigade had a queue of cases requiring an ambulance of anywhere from 50 to 80 calls and only 14 ambulances to do these cases the F/F paramedics are suffering burnout much the same as NAS while doing 15 hour night shifts
Fair play to anyone working in emergency services, don’t know how they deal with the anti social hours and low pay for the stuff they have to deal with on a daily basis. 100% support them in getting better pay and conditions !
I don’t blame them. The average pay for paramedics in Ireland is just under 35k. In reality, that’s about 20% under the national average. I worked in a hospital before for 8 months, and from my experience a lot of the paramedics were putting their lives on the line working at anti social hours, rescuing people who had midnight overdoses, dealing with violent patients and often being attacked.
They deserve better!
I’ll back absolutely anyone seeking higher pay, teachers, nurses, retail workers, truck drivers, etc, everyone bar the clowns in the Dail should be on higher wages at the moment in Ireland and before the crap hit the fan!
@C: well said
@C: And it will still be okay when your taxes go up to pay for it all?
Simple question of economics-is there difficulty in getting people to apply to be say teachers, Garda, etc…..no there is not….. So its cant be all that bad.
@Jon Boylan: Well you’ve just mentioned another area that should be reduced significantly haven’t you? Seeking a better standard of living isn’t a crime, why don’t you come up with solutions rather than point out flaws in the system and why it shouldn’t happen. If you’re happy getting shafted daily by our government, good for you.
@C: I didn’t suggest anything / anyone get reduced…read again.
So – no problem filling the roles = tons of applicants queuing to get themselves shafted by Govt.
I like your logic….sounds like Shinner logic.
@C: not just Dail members, If the €15p/h rate is correct the the CEO at HSE is being paid a 13.5 multiple of that salary. No way does any job warrant that multiple considering the service NSA deliver on a daily basis.
@Jon Boylan: not all applicants are suitable to the roles mentioned. Pay peanuts and you get monkeys
@M Bowe: almost 4000 HSE employees are in the top 15% of earners on €100K+. P/A. While NSA front line are on €31,200. Who are these 4000 and what roles are 3x + front line essential employees????
I am shocked here at the comment saying some of them get €15 an hour. Sickening. They need to strike. Hardly enough to make ends meet in this day and age.
Fully support the NAS staff actions for better pay and conditions. Who will be asked to step up though if they do go ahead with strike action? – Óglaigh na hÉireann that’s who. Even lower paid public servants but whose Medical Corps paramedics would have the same qualifications and will always turn up when asked. Pity like the rest of the technical strength of the DF their numbers are dwindling.
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