82 thoughts on “Dear Simon

  1. Mr. Camomile T

    Nurses are class. They are the best people. I mean that genuinely and sincerely. They should have what they need at the very least. All things being equal they should have much, much more than that.

    1. Cot

      Exactly. The problem is that the Blueshirts despise the poor and the uninsured ill, so until this government collapses, nothing will be done.

      1. classter

        The real problem is that the system as it is currently set up is not working. Much of the burden of the system not working falls on nurses and non-consultant doctors who are on the consultant track.

        Many of them end up working huge amounts of overtime with a reasonable amount of that unpaid.

        Lots of money is wasted on a bloated HSE, lots of money is wasted on the insurance companies, lots of money is spent on poor procurement practices, lots of money is wasted on HSE employees who game the system, lots of money is wasted trying to keep open hospitals which should be closed.

        The ‘Blueshirts’ are partially to blame but so are every other party, as are the unions and a public which demands completely contradictory things from the health system.

        1. classter

          She does undermine here argument with the typical Irish approach of hyperbole.

          I’m not quite clear why nurses would be starving & relying on SVdP unless they were living far beyond their means.

          1. Medium Sized C

            Because their salaries are going on rent and travel. Particularly if they live in cities and moreso Dublin.

        2. Twunt

          Do not forget the unions, change in work practices is met with resistance. If they would let non-Nurses do admin jobs, there would be a lot more nurses to do nurse work

          1. Curmudgeon

            Bingo, they’re terrified of IT personnell automating their stupidly cushy data entry jobs

      1. Jocky

        Yep. Look at the fawning over the Apollo house “residents” whilst middle income workers are constantly shafted and put down.

        1. Deluded

          Who is putting them down?
          How does this relate to some other group you don’t like?
          … unless Glen Hansard works for Revenue…

        2. Sheik Yahbouti

          Ah Jocky, would you ever eff off. You can bollock the homeless on another thread – this looks like pure FG “whataboutery” of which we suffer too much. Tell Indah (and his ‘media Manager) to cop on. This is getting old.

  2. Anomanomanom

    Just finished reading the whole lot and its bollox. Nurses not affording food. They’re all on more than me and I can afford food. She’s talking poo.

      1. Rob_G

        If I understand correctly, Anomanomanom (who I often don’t agree with) works in the health service.

        1. Anomanomanom

          Yes I do. I agree with her on everything. But if a nurse can not afford food something apart from her rate of paid is to blame.

          1. Anomanomanom

            Actually explain why. Is it because unlike most of you on here I don’t just go with the flock. That women is clearly talking poo. Im not judging her im just saying.

          2. Sheik Yahbouti

            You ARE judging her and you’re not “just saying”. Now, have the guts to say precisely the capacity in which you work in the ‘health service ‘ – it is clear that you are not a Nurse, so – what are you?

          3. Anomanomanom

            What I do is my business. But any time someone on her disagrees with a post people ignore any point made. Do you believe a nurse can not afford food because of their rate of pay. Any other reason, out goings, mortgage, children is her own business and maybe would be a valid reason. her salary is not

          4. Sheik Yahbouti

            Anom, you are not a Nurse, I’m guessing you are not a Doctor!! So, what work do you do for the ‘Health Service ‘? This information would assist readers in judging your contributions accurately.

          5. Anomanomanom

            Its irrelevant to any contributions. The only point im making, or asking I should say, is about her saying nurses cant afford food because of the pay. Now if you think im so important that you must know what I do before saying if you think she’s telling the truth or not, im not important. But any nurse that cant afford food and is saying the reason is because their pay is so bad is lying.

          6. Anomanomanom

            Thats it ignore the actually content of my comment. Why the fixation on my job yet no answer to the question. Do you believe a nurse cant afford food solely because her pay is so bad.

      1. Anomanomanom

        Oh I earn enough. I like my job. More money is not worth not likely my job. But my point is valet, how can a nurse need not afford food. And from what she says its because of her “low” pay.

    1. Paddy

      Yep your comment showed up. And you picked one complaint she had as some proof that it was all a load of boll… or poo as you call it. In order to create poo, you must have food. You’ve no problems then.

  3. Junkface

    Irish nurses do amazing work considering the c r a p they have to put up with, they’re the best. They are totally undervalued by the Gov’t. The hierarchy of management in the Health system is the problem. How come other countries can manage with far larger populations?

    1. classter

      Far larger population makes it more easy, no? Economies of scale etc.

      Our relatively low population density makes these problems much harder to solve.

    2. curmudgeon

      Because they have more health care assistants. Those are the actually people at the coal face who do the unpleasant work. However they don’t pay nurse union dues so we won’t hear about them at all. Instead we get propaganda wheeled out as fact via useful idiots at broadsheet.ie

    1. SomeChump

      Love the username. It makes it easy to determine that your comments should not be read. Thanks.

  4. Paul

    Nurses have to put up with a lot of poo but a lot of what this nurse has to say is simply not true. They actually do far less than their colleagues overseas. They just got a pay increase deal to perform various tasks previously undertaken by Irish doctors. These tasks are performed as standard by nurses abroad (without any pay increase). They have also pulled a quick one because they have taken the pay increase but they have not accepted doing the tasks.

    The biggest lie though is that some of them skip breaks. Nurses NEVER skip breaks. Everything comes to a stand still rather than nurses skipping breaks. An operating theatre will close to allow nurses get their breaks. No such pauses are allowed for doctors. It is in fact doctors who skip their breaks on a daily basis.

    The ‘study’ that they do to keep their jobs involves days off work to go to in-hospital courses to get professional development points. They are not doing seriously difficult courses that require 100s of hours of study and cost lots of money. They can take up more serious courses in order to move up the ranks but certainly not to ‘keep’ their jobs.

    All that being said, it’s a tough job. Not because of the amount of work they do but because of the poo they have to deal with.

    1. Happy Molloy

      with regard to breaks, I’m guessing it depends where you are. I had the misfortune of spending a night in ED once and, while I’m sure all the staff needed a break, I doubt the nurses made sure they got every minute.

      I’ve worked in frantically busy places and you don’t take breaks like you’re entitled to, and it’s not because of some sense of duty, gt’ to make life easier on your colleagues

  5. Anne

    “Fundamental Shifts and decisive actions need if we are serious about ending this decade old situation – I am genuinely determined on this”

    hmmm what could this fundamental shift be I wonder?
    A move towards complete privatisation?

    https://www.facebook.com/peopleb4profit/posts/1200938296664362
    Here’s how the health scam works. Fine Gael cut 1600 beds. This creates a crisis. They then buy beds from a private firm to deal with the emergency they have created. Beds that were public go- private beds appear. We had 18,000 beds in the 1980s- we now have 10,000. They are running down public health intentionally. We need a National Health Service paid for through taxation of the rich.

    Where are the billions going? You can’t get an MRI or a consultant for months on end in the public system, regardless of how many thousands in tax you’ve paid. You’re goosed without private health care, where premiums are increasing every year. We seem to be emulating the U.S. heath care system, and it’s a disaster for anyone without plenty of money.

  6. Arcol

    Nurses are underpaid, as are librarians, teachers and a host of vital jobs that are classed as vocational. The real problem is not FG, but the drive the PDs made to create a two-tier health service along the US model. The HSE was a sound idea in theory, rationalising a plethora of regional health boards, but the implementation was flawed, and has never righted itself. FG, or any other govt, will have a massive job on their hands to right a system that’s bloated in the wrong areas, fundamentally undervaluing key staff in others, combined with a union that has become an end in itself rather than working to find practical solutions for its members or the patients for whom everyone involved works. And nurses are underpaid.

    1. Sheik Yahbouti

      Arcol, you are completely correct. The rot began with Ms Harney and the PD party, who took their cue from the antics of Blair and Noo Labour (with the approval of the Tories). I am 65 years old and can tell you that there are fewer public nursing homes, “cottage Hospitals and general Hospitals – and thousands fewer beds, than existed when I was a child, despite a growth in our population. This is the circle which cannot be squared. In addition, Harney, whilst being one of the few politicians with balls, couldn’t overcome the laws of political expediency. Therefore, instead of a slim-line, potentially efficient HSE she was forced to retain every lazy, time serving waster in the myriad Health Boards which beset this country. The enterprise was thus doomed to failure. I profoundly disagree with the privatisation of public services, but recognise that the atrocious shitheap that is the HSE need not have been as bad as it is.

        1. Arcol

          Agreed. Very decent. As a thought, if Polly wanted a practical step, one might be to form a breakaway nurses union under which no officer could be paid more than 50% higher than the lowest earning member; in which there would be agreement not to strike, on the basis that this new union would sacrifice a tool that powerful in return for the massive public support it would engender; and which would prioritise finding solutions which acknowledge budgetary needs, salary fairness for new and existing members and the ongoing need to find more efficient working practices to allow all of the above to happen.

          1. winner

            That’s true. Leadership of the masses is extraordinarily difficult as most people on low pay are so focussed on survival they haven’t time to lead. I advocate to a couple of representative workers groups. They are not unions but are staffed by volunteers and mostly retired folks. We’d need a really good recession here NOT funded by vested interests like EU or IMF to clear out the parasitic scum in government administration and the public service managements.

  7. RiderOnTheStorm

    Harris is a prat who listens far too much to the HSE and DoH poohawks’ bullpoo.

    He needs to spend 12 hours (a Fundamental Shift) in Limerick regional A & E and wards and trolley-laden corridors at the coalface…..roll his fuppin’ sleeves up and give a hand (decisive actions need)…..consult directly with the patients and health miners of hearts of gold, and he will learn …..no fuppin’ (IF)…. (we are serious about ending this decades old)…….. fuppin’ horrible joke.

    Then, and only then, wouldl he earn the right to say he (is determined on this)

  8. Toni the exotic dancer

    Here we go again with the nurses, teachers, gards, front line mantra again. All overpaid and a powerful lobby group to bang their drum. A Garda average salary is 65 K plus but all we ever hear is how PS workers are on the breadline.

    1. Curmudgeon

      Correct, public service unions ensure their members are over paid and under perform (compared to oecd figures and averages). For example why is it that nurses work 12 hour shifts? Obviously that’s not good for the patient’s but it is very good for the nurses as they get 3 days off in return for 4 days on. A long weekend every weekend. And they good their union to push this. Patient safety be damned.

    2. Anomanomanom

      They all do vital work. But the problem is the money some get paid is a lot for the work they do and rather than cut the dead wood its carried. Also anyone on €1000 up ward a week whos saying they are poor is lying

          1. curmudgeon

            The Gardai threatened a strike for more pay. Their unions disseminated false info about their pay despite in reality being the most well renumerated section of the public service.

  9. Casey

    Aren’t there dishes in a kitchen somewhere that your bitter little soul needs to get back to?

  10. Frilly Keane

    Work practices ….
    Sh1tty
    Dated
    Belligerent
    And at this stage
    Downright obnoxious
    Work practices
    Are half the blame

    Continued acceptance of the various relevant behaviours is the other half

  11. Murtles

    Not disrespecting Polly’s job or the trojan work other nurses do in anyway but 38 tweets???? Seriously? Not the best social media tool to use to try and get across such an important message as this. Good luck to Simon trying to find these in a legible order in his news feed with all the other tweets I’m sure he gets. Hope she emailed it too.

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