Parliament slammed for ignoring nurses

Katrín Júlíusdóttir MP has criticised the Icelandic Parliament (‘Alþingi’) for its “lack of interest” in the situation currently affecting the country’s health system.

Members of the Icelandic Association of Nurses (FÍH) went on strike on 27 May in a dispute about pay and work conditions. On 13 June, Alþingi passed legislation to halt the strike, in response to which a considerable number of nurses and other healthcare workers have resigned.

“198 healthcare workers have resigned because of this legislation […], including 167 nurses,” said Júlíusdóttir, MP for the centre-left Social Democratic Alliance (‘Samfylkingin’), in Alþingi today. “Is anybody discussing this in Alþingi? No, nobody is interested.”

In a passionate speech directed particularly at the incumbent government, Júlí­us­dótt­ir deplored the lack of interest shown by Alþingi in this “critical situation”.

“There are long waiting lists in the health service that need to be tackled and we heard from the manager of Landspítali [the National University Hospital of Iceland] yesterday that considerable amounts of money will be needed,” she told Alþingi colleagues. “Is anybody talking about this? No, there is no discussion of the matter at all.”

Júlí­us­dótt­ir concluded by saying that it was high time for Alþingi to focus on important issues. “Iceland has world-class healthcare workers, who could get work anywhere in the world they choose. And what do we do? We disrespect them, ignore them for weeks and months on end, then legislate against them.”