Nurse strike causes ripple effect in hospitals

Some 75 nurses working at Tórshavn’s National Hospital and Klaksvík Hospital are now on strike.

When the first 50 nurses went on strike on Monday, the National Hospital management said the hospital would start feeling the pressure immediately.

Now, on the fourth day of the strike, a further 25 nurses have taken up strike action, and the pressure is starting to spread throughout the hospital system.

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“The National Hospital is under a great deal of pressure these days,” says CEO Steinar Eirikstoft.

“The departments that are not affected by the strike are now having to work well beyond capacity to accommodate patients transferred from our strike-affected departments.”

Some patients have also been transferred to the other two hospitals, despite Klaksvík Hospital being filled beyond capacity, he adds.

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The strike involves nurses working at the National Hospital’s G4 and B8 units and the surgical department as well as nurses at Klaksvík Hospital’s patient ward and its surgical department.

“B8, which receives emergency admissions, is hit hard by the strike. But I do want to make it clear that we do take in all emergency patients,” says Eirikstoft.

“We have no vacant beds in the hospital at the moment, so we’re facing a great challenge with all these patient transfers.”

The Conciliation Board has called a meeting tomorrow morning between the two opposing parties in the strike, the Faroese Union of Nurses and the Ministry of Finance.

Translated by prosa.fo