Up to 200 jobs created as part of the new €75 million maternity hospital in Cork could be lost if the facility does not open next weekend, the Health Service Executive has warned.
The HSE has also written to nursing unions advising that various terms offered to midwives to transfer to the new Cork University Maternity Hospital will be withdrawn if they refuse to co-operate with the rescheduled move next Saturday.
Assistant national director of human resources for HSE South Barry O'Brien wrote yesterday to the Irish Nurses Organisation and the Siptu union, outlining the HSE's position in the event of midwives opting not to co-operate with the revised opening date.
Failure to co-operate with the move would result in the Health Service Executive withdrawing an offer to pay enhanced rates above the standard overtime levels to midwives during the eight-week period when the hospital is building up to its full staff complement.
The HSE would also withdraw offers to create about 20 promotional posts and set aside protected funding for midwife training and education.
Failure to open the hospital would also result in the cancellation of approximately 200 posts ranging from doctors and nurses to catering staff and porters, many of whom have already been hired to join the existing 400 personnel due to transfer to the new hospital.
Mr O'Brien confirmed that he had advised the unions that if co- operation was not forthcoming to open the hospital on Saturday, then the HSE would not commission the maternity facility in 2007 and would consider alternative uses for it.
"Obviously we very much hope it won't come to that but we can't have a €75 million new hospital with a current budget of €60 million lying idle, so we would have to look at other options including general hospital use," said Mr O'Brien.
"We need a clear indication from the INO by Wednesday that they will co-operate because we are duty bound to be able to assure expectant mothers that the move will go ahead - there are enough people distressed already over this - we need some certainty now," he said.
The INO was last night expected to brief midwives at the Erinville and St Finbarr's hospitals on the contents of the HSE letter.
It was the first general meeting of midwives since they voted overwhelmingly on Friday to reject revised HSE proposals to open 128 beds at the 144-bed hospital last Saturday, with a reduced staff of 315 midwives and nurses.
INO general secretary Liam Doran said that while union negotiators had recommended acceptance, midwives were still unhappy about how the HSE proposed to ramp up staff numbers from an opening complement of 315 to the recommended level of 375.
Health service management yesterday lodged a strong protest with nursing unions over the failure to open the new hospital.