Anger: Nurse hits out at row over military help for our struggling hospitals
A NURSE has spoken of her anger about the row over military aid for hospitals here, saying it was not a political issue, but a matter of “life or death”.
Edel Coulter, who works at Belfast City Hospital, was one of hundreds of staff who hit out after trade union Unison queried the decision by the Health Minister.
Unison said it had not been consulted by Robin Swann on the issue and would be asking for detailed reasons for the move.
A statement on Facebook sparked a backlash from under-pressure healthcare workers, with many threatening to resign from the union over the controversy.
A band 4 support worker on £21-24,000 would be paying around £13 a month in membership subs, while a band 5 registered nurse on £25-30,000 would be paying just over £16.
Union regional secretary Patricia Mckeown later issued a new statement, saying the first had been “misunderstood” and apologised for the “stress and hurt” it caused.
“To be absolutely clear, Unison has not objected to assistance from military personnel,” she said.
Yesterday, Sinn Fein MLA Pat Sheehan told the Stormont health committee that he did not wish to start a row about military assistance, which has proven divisive in the past between Stormont parties.
He told MLAS: “My only concern is that they don’t get in the way of the real professionals who are doing the work to save lives.”
DUP deputy committee chair Pam Cameron said she was “astounded”.
“I can’t believe he has just said this, talked about military ‘getting in the way of real professions’, is he trying to say that medical professionals from the military are not real professionals? It’s astounding... I’m flabbergasted,” she said.
Ulster Unionist MLA Alan Chambers said Mr Sheehan’s comments were “utterly pathetic”.
“Our health service is under severe pressure and we are about to receive support from highly trained, highly skilled medical professionals who will be able to provide relief to exhausted staff,” he said.
“Whether they are military or not, is neither here nor there. This is life-saving work.
Sinn Fein Deputy First Minister Michelle O’neill said later thatn having been in an Executive meeting all day, she had not heard the comment.
She said the priority of her party has “always been to save lives” and would “never rule out anything that actually supports the health service”.
And Mrs Coulter (43), who has been a nurse since 2006, said she and her colleagues “will happily take any help that is going”.
“That it was being turned into an orange and green issue is what really made me cross,” she added.
“This really is a life or death issue. Recently we received help from the ambulance service in the south — nobody said a word about that, and why would they?
“We’re more than happy for any assistance and it has to be the same with the military. They are used to working in high-pressure environments, so they are ideally placed, plus
they have medical training and medical backgrounds.”
Mrs Coulter, a mother of two young children whose husband works in administration at the City Hospital, said she felt the health service was “very lucky” during the first lockdown in March, but now things were much different.
“During the first lockdown people were sticking to the rules rigidly, our numbers were very low, and for a while it was manageable,” she explained.
“But this time people have become fatigued by all the lockdown measures and they don’t really see the implications of how their actions impact on patients. Not just Covid patients, it impacts all our patients.
“I think we need to go back to where we were before, where it is really only essential journeys that are allowed, because looking at how many cars are on the road, it doesn’t seem to be the case. You know what’s coming, what we’re going to have to face.
“I haven’t slept properly since March, to be honest. None of us are sleeping properly. You’re just constantly worried: am going to bring something in to my patients? Am I going to bring something home to my family? We’re under an immense amount of pressure, not just physically, but psychologically. It’s very demanding, that’s why when I heard about Robin Swann ask