TC/1275

Trust to draft in more staff to meet bomb care needs

LOCAL health workers are experiencing increased pressure and stress, as they strive to deal with the growing numbers seeking help and counselling in the aftermath of the Omagh bombing, it was claimed this week.
And the Sperrin Lakeland Trust said yesterday (Wednesday) it was making arrangements to increase the numbers of professional staff in the community mental health team to deal with the additional referrals.
it is understood that mental health services are at full stretch, with referrals to the community mental health team up by 50 per cent last month, and additional pressure expected through the further reduction of long-stay patient beds in the Tyrone and Fermanagh Hospital.
Three weeks ago, the Trust announced that, over a period of time, it would be culling the number of continuing-care beds from 62 to 20.
It has also been claimed that there is a shortage of acute beds in the hospital, adding to the pressures the mental health services are under.
And the stresses being experienced by health care staff have been compounded by what they see as low wages, in comparison with other professionals and those in health management.
Mr. Sean Collins, chairman of the local RCN branch, has warned that more and more nurses will be forced to leave the profession if there is no marked improvement in pay rises.
Mr. Collins, who is a cognitive behaviour nurse therapist, said local nurses were not happy about reports that a number of chief executives from the Province's 19 Health Trusts had received huge pay increases, one in Belfast receiving a salary increase of £26,000.
On Tuesday, the Secretary of State, Dr. Mo Mowlam, ordered an investigation into some of the pay rises.
Commenting on the current pressure on nursing staff, Mr. Collins said the Omagh bomb had triggered off many people's vulnerabilities, leading to an increase in the number of people seeking help.
And he said there was still a question over how many services needed to be put in place to deal with the aftermath.
"There has been an increase in the number of referrals to the community mental health team, and that has been as a direct result of the bomb. And nurses are being put under increased pressure," he said.
Referring to the bid put in by the Trust for more money from the Government, Mr. Collins, who is currently working with the Trust's trauma team, said he understood much of the money would go towards employing extra nursing staff.
"People are seeking help and there is not enough staff to deal with them. They have been through a lot, and don't need to be put on a waiting list on top of everything else," he said.
"Meanwhile, the staff are trying their best to fit in as many people as possible, and are getting more and more stressed out.
"It is important that the Government responds to the Trust's request for more funding so extra nurses and personnel in the mental health field and other areas can be put in place."
Mr. Collins said district nurses who were out and about visiting those injured and changing dressings were now finding that people wanted to talk to them about what had happened.
"Normally a visit might only be 20 minutes to half-an-hour, but the nurses are finding that they are spending more and more time with the patients, listening to them," he said.
He said that occupational therapists, social workers and everyone involved in the health field were experiencing increased pressure and workloads.
Demoralised
Referring to the proposed 2.5 per cent pay rise for nurses, he said nurses had been feeling very demoralised for quite some time.
"We have been walked on by successive governments who have only paid lip service to us, and it is about time we were recognised and given the credence we deserve," he said.
"We should be proud of our nurses. For too long we have been the unsung heroes of the health services. We have gone about our work in a professional, dignified and quiet manner."
He went on: "Morale is at an all-time low in the nursing profession. Nurses are trying to cope with extra stresses, yet are not being rewarded sufficiently."
Mr. Collins said the numbers in nursing had been dropping "drastically", and if the Pay Review Body insisted on offering "pitiful pay rises", it was not going to encourage people to enter the profession.
He pointed out that there was a shortage of bank nurses in the local area, when previously there had always been plenty.
And he said reports of huge pay increases for some of the Trusts' chief executives had not "gone down well" with local nurses.
"Nurses are at the coalface. Without them, the health service would not survive too long. When they see managers getting big pay rises and they are being offered 2.5 per cent it does not instil much confidence in either management or the nursing profession," he said.
He warned that more nurses were leaving the profession, and those left behind were having to cope with increased workloads.
"It is nice to be thanked for what you do, and while money is not the be all and end all, it is the wages that pay for the mortgage. It is all about being valued and improving self-esteem," he said.
"England has always experienced shortages in nurses. And while the same shortages are not so much in evidence in Northern Ireland, it is only a matter of time before it gets that way."
He added that, following the Omagh bombing, a staff support system had been put in place, but some nurses were reluctant to avail of it, as they did not want to admit they were vulnerable.
"There are a number of nurses who need help, but who have not sought any, and are throwing themselves into their work instead," he said.
Mr. John Hall, a member of the RCN's Board, and charge nurse at the Tyrone and Fermanagh Hospital, said Omagh traditionally would have had a high number of nursing staff, particularly in the Tyrone and Fermanagh Hospital.
"Now, however, there are fewer nurses in training, especially in the mental health field," he said.
"There have been a significant number of retirements in recent years, but there are fewer people available to fill these positions."
He said morale in nursing in general was low, and there were serious recruiting problems in other Trusts.
"We have not reached that stage yet, but a lot of people are starting to vote with their feet, and move on to other things," he said.
He said nurses in Omagh were under increasing pressure, and this was not helped by reports of huge pay rises for some of the chief executives in the Province's Trusts.
The shortage of acute beds in the Tyrone and Fermanagh Hospital was also putting more pressure on mental health services locally, he said.
Olive Wylie, joint secretary of the local branch of the health workers' union, Unison, said "exorbitant" pay rises awarded every year to the chief executives of the 19 health Trusts in Northern Ireland caused other health care staff to feel demoralised and under-valued.
"This year is no exception, with rises as high as £26,000 reported," she said.
"Undoubtedly, chief executives have a very responsible and complex job which deserves recognition, but so have many other health care workers, and sadly this is not reflected in their salary, or in the pay increases they receive."
'Disgusted'
She said talk of a "paltry" 2.5 per cent rise for nurses next year had left them feeling "disgusted".
"In December 1998 a newly trained staff nurse will have a salary of £12,855, with few promotional and career opportunities. She can expect to reach the top of the scale in four years, and stay there on a £14,705 salary," she said.
She went on: "Is it really justifiable that a chief executive should get a pay rise of more than twice the salary of a trained nurse, on whose performance the hospital is in many ways measured?"
She revealed that a Unison survey taken in July and August had found that 83 per cent of nurses felt they were not well paid, with one in five having a second job.
As many as 71 per cent of nurses were considering leaving their job, with 51 per cent citing dissatisfaction with pay as the reason, she said.
She added: "We are not suggesting that chief executives' pay should not reflect their responsibilities. We are just asking that other health care workers be given similar recognition, and that nurses' pay should recognise them as the responsible, qualified professionals that they are."
Meanwhile, Mr. Gabriel Carey, director of mental health and elderly services with the Trust, said it expected the current trend of an increase in the number of referrals to the Omagh Community Mental Health Team to "continue for the foreseeable future".
"To respond to this situation, mental health professionals are currently making an input into the Community Trauma Team, and the Trust is arranging to increase the number of professional staff in the Community Mental Health Team to deal with the additional referrals," he said.
He went on: "Most of the people being referred to us following the bombing need the help of those professionals trained in psychological therapies.
"These are highly trained and skilled therapists who are in scarce supply. However, we have received offers of help from other Trusts, who have agreed to allocate professionals to us on a sessional basis to augment the existing capacity within the Trust to deal with additional referrals.
"We will obviously monitor this situation closely and respond as necessary."
Mr. Carey stressed that implementing an appropriate response was not dependant solely on financial resources, but primarily a matter of recruiting staff with the appropriate training and expertise.
He added that the Trust hoped to hear within the next few weeks the outcome of its bid for an extra £2.5 million from the Government, to meet the costs already committed for the recovery plan, and provide services for those injured and distressed as a result of the bomb.
In a further statement regarding pay increases for nurses, the Trust said nursing staff had received a pay rise which equated to 2.7 per cent in year, and 3.8 per cent full year effect.
"Apart from medical and dental staff, this is in line with increases received by all other groups, including directors and senior managers," the statement said.
"While, no doubt, staff, including nurses, would welcome better pay rises, it must be recognised that unless additional money is made available to pay for any increases, this would negatively impact on the numbers of staff employed, which would have to reduce."
The statement added that, while all permanent vacancies had been filled in the Omagh area, there were some difficulties being experienced in the recruitment of temporary staff, particularly for specialist areas.