Nurses in Northern Ireland urged to grill candidates on staffing and wages Nurses should use the elections for the Northern Ireland Assembly to fight for better pay and staffing levels, says Britain’s […]

Nurses should use the elections for the Northern Ireland Assembly to fight for better pay and staffing levels, says Britain’s biggest nurses’ union, after urgently needed reforms were delayed by the government’s collapse.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is calling on Northern Ireland’s 18,000 nurses to grill their local candidates on the “unsustainable” lack of staff, warning members say they “cannot continue in the conditions that they’re working under”.

A ten year plan to reform the Health and Social Care service, Northern Ireland’s equivalent of the NHS, was unveiled in October by Health Minister Michelle O’Neill, who said the service was at “breaking point”.

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Under pressure

But the surprise resignation of Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness last month, which led to the collapse of the Stormont government, has pushed healthcare off the national agenda.

The RCN worries a political stalemate after the vote on March 2 would damage patients’ quality of care, and is urging nurses to take action.

Garrett Martin, the union’s deputy director in Northern Ireland, said members are very worried about pressure on the health service with hospitals not able to cope.

“Overwhelmingly, the messages that we’re getting from our members relate to safe staffing,” he told the BBC.

“[And] there is pay inequity with nurses and other healthcare staff in Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

Stormont brewing

“We want to see that addressed, but we also want to see it in the context of reform and modernisation.”

Martin said nurses should scrutinise their candidates’ positions on wages and staffing levels, so their voices are heard in Stormont.

“When the representatives are knocking on your door to ask what they believe is right in relation to safe staffing, in relation to nurses’ and healthcare staff’s pay,” he said.

“We want nurses to make their mind up as to who they believe and which party they believe would best help deliver on those priorities.”

Martin added the RCN would be “very concerned” about any possible return to direct rule by MPs in Westminster in response to the crisis.