Mass nurse resignations at Landspítali
Photo: Eggert
No less than 42 nurses at the National University Hospital of Iceland (‘Landspítali’) handed in their resignation yesterday in response to the passing of legislation crushing their ongoing strike action.
The Icelandic Parliament (‘Alþingi’) passed a government bill over the weekend forcing striking unions away from the picket line and back to the negotiating table.
These latest resignations come on top of 21 Landspítali radiologists resigning last month over pay. Reports suggest that a number of Icelandic healthcare workers are receiving offers of employment from countries in Scandinavia.
According to CEO of Landspítali, Páll Matthíasson, there are mixed feelings among staff in the wake of this weekend’s events – sadness, anger and even relief. There is currently no further information on possible further nurse resignations.
Back at work, the task ahead to begin to get operations back on track and work on waiting lists. Matthíasson considers it unlikely that any headway will be made until after the summer-holiday period. “Things are not yet back to normal,” he says. “There is a certain amount of displeasure among the team and considerable effort is going into meeting and caring for hospital staff at this stage of the dispute.”
A total of 1,500 nurses are currently employed at Landspítali.
