Staff concern over progress on Phase 2B

While builders have been carrying out extensive work on Mullingar Regional Hospital, staff at the hospital remain unconvinced by a commitment from Minister for Health Mary Harney that the Phase 2B 108 bed development will be completed in 2009.Despite a recent assurance from Health Minister Mary Harney and construction having been completed for eleven years, the 108 bed wing Phase 2B of Mullingar Regional Hospital is unlikely to be in use in the near future, Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) Midlands Industrial Relations Officer Derek Reilly has said - and staff at the hospital believe.Responding to comments from Health Minister Mary Harney, who last month pledged to open the Phase 2B block at Mullingar Hospital by early 2009, Mr Reilly said there had been no communication with the INO or any unions in relation to the move.Mr Reilly said he would be 'very, very surprised' if the HSE moved to open the block in the current economic climate and he is planning to write to the Department of Health for clarification on the situation. He claims the staff at Mullingar are struggling to cope with the number of patients as it is, 'staffing numbers on the wards are pretty poor in Mullingar compared to hospitals of the same size,' he explained.Although Minister Harney said the block would be 'fully operational' by early 2009, the HSE issued a statement on the matter and said: 'Site works on Stage 1 of the Phase 2B Capital Development formally commenced on 24th October 2006 and is (sic) scheduled to be completed at the end of 2008. The completion of this phase of the project will increase the bed complement from 215 to 239.'The provision of an extra 24 beds accounts for just under a quarter of the proposed 108 beds expected at the hospital when construction started on Phase 2B. Even with an extra 24 beds, staff and the INO are doubtful of any move being made in relation to staffing.According to the HSE Stage 1 includes: the fit out of the existing ward shells to provide a new paediatric ward, a new day surgery/gynaecology ward, a new obstetric ward and a new medical ward, incorporating an acute stroke unit. In addition, the HSE granted approval to refurbish the remaining two existing wards (ie a Medical/Surgical ward on Level 0 and a Delivery/Gynaecology ward on Level 2) in the red brick building in line with SARI guidelines. The construction cost for these works is €19m.The HSE said the Hospital has submitted a Manpower Plan for the staffing requirements concerning Stage 1 of Phase 2B although the INO say they are unaware of any staffing plans at the hospital.It does look as though the builders will be finished their element of the works at Mullingar Hospital by Christmas - but staff do not believe that Phase 2B will go into operation in 2009.'The builders have been given a deadline for Stage 1 of Phase 2B, that is the fitting out of the shell, the €19m aspect. So the builders have been told to be offsite by the end of the year, and there"s no doubt things were well behind but things have sped up now,' a senior staff member within the hospital told the Westmeath Examiner this week.The rooms in the shell - which has lain empty since it was built in the 1990s - will be finished, according to the staff member, 'to look like real wards', as Stage 1 of Phase 2B was to involve the provision of 40-50 new beds. It means the plastering, flooring, piping, electrical work etc. will also have finally been completed, 'but it will also require additional staff: and that is the crux,' the hospital staff member said.A Manpower Plan was submitted by the hospital to the HSE, looking for a staffing complement of 120 to cope with the expanded capacity - but the HSE said that was too many staff, and cut back the Manpower proposal to 85.That was over a year ago, and the belief within Mullingar hospital is that the Manpower Plan is still lying on a senior official"s desk within the HSE, because there"s no realistic chance of funding coming through.INO"s Derek Reilly said the rate of medical inflation was higher then national inflation levels and the INO are bracing themselves for cutbacks in staffing and spending levels throughout hospitals around the country rather than an expansion of staff and facilities. He claimed a similar situation existed in Tullamore where the new hospital has yet to be fully opened or staffed.As is the case in Tullamore, 'some of the HSE people would like the staff to move in on a like-for-like basis when the new unit opens,' i.e., to use beds in the new portion of the hospital as opposed to some of those in the older section, without increasing the overall number of beds in use, according to the senior staff member.Continued on page 4