NI nurses' strike: Nursing conference cancelled

Nurses in Northern Ireland are due to begin industrial action over pay and staffing on 3 December

A major cross-border nursing conference set to take place in Belfast next week has been cancelled due to industrial action by nurses in Northern Ireland.

The All-Ireland Chief Nursing Officers' Conference was to be held in Titanic Belfast on 3 December.

It would have coincided with the first day of industrial action by NI nurses.

A letter from Northern Ireland's chief nursing officer said the event was cancelled as their "priority is to the care of patients and their safety".

Nurses and midwives from across Ireland were due to attend the event to address issues on the future of health and social care.

But earlier this month, nurses in Northern Ireland voted for strike action in protest over staffing numbers and pay.

It was the first time in the Royal College of Nursing's (RCN) 103-year-history such action has been taken in the UK.

'Disappointment'

BBC News NI has seen a letter written by Northern Ireland's chief nursing officer (CNO) Charlotte McArdle, outlining the reasons for calling off next week's conference.

Charlotte McArdle said patient care had to be prioritised

"I have discussed the matter with my colleague CNO in the Republic of Ireland, Dr Siobhan O'Halloran," she wrote.

"We believe as chief nursing officers our priority is to the care of patients and their safety.

"With this in mind and arising from the RCN's industrial action, it is with regret that we have decided to cancel the conference this year.

"The conference programme was built on valuable citizen feedback and included international experts as we sought to address important professional nursing issues for the future of health and social care on the island of Ireland.

"I know that you will share our disappointment with this decision."

'Struggling to cope'

RCN's director Pat Cullen said while the cancellation was "regrettable, it is completely understandable".

"Nurses are struggling day-to-day to cope with the high levels of nursing vacancies and increased demand upon services," she said.

"No nurse wishes to take industrial action or strike action but we cannot continue to stand by and do nothing about the state of our health service.

"We have a responsibility, on behalf of patients, to take action."

'2,500 vacancies'

Responding to the cancellation, Unison head of bargaining and representation Anne Speed said the decision to cancel the conference was the "right one".

"To hold a conference considering the future of nursing on the same day as nurses have been forced to take industrial action because of the ongoing crisis in our health service would have been totally inappropriate," she said.

"The focus of the chief nursing officer and the Department of Health at this time should be on resolving the unsafe staffing levels and lack of pay parity that have forced nurses to take industrial action in the first place.

"The highest number of vacancies within the health service is in registered nursing, with nearly 2,500 posts lying vacant.

"Unison wants a seat at the table to discuss the future of nursing and the future of health and social care across this island.

"But that discussion cannot take place whilst thousands of nursing posts lie unfilled and nurses in Northern Ireland are paid less than their colleagues across the NHS."