The Department of Health is very concerned that crucial meetings to agree emergency staffing cover for the threatened nurses' strike have not yet taken place because of delays by the unions in establishing strike committees.
The Health Service Employers' Agency said strike committees had met with just one of the eight health boards up to yesterday to discuss cover. This meeting was with the Southern Health Board.
A Department of Health spokesman said it was very concerned about the lack of a national framework of emergency cover. In its absence, the unions had committed themselves to establishing strike committees to meet local health boards and hospital managements to agree cover.
"But in the majority of cases a strike committee has either not been set up or has not yet been in touch with management," he said. "This has prompted us to be extremely concerned."
In some cases, strike committees were telling hospital managements they would not meet them until after the ballot result was known on Monday, he added.
A HSEA spokesman said the process was not moving as quickly as it would like, as the unions had said the strike committees would be established by the middle of this week.
The seven health boards which had yet to be informed of the membership of their local strike committee were expecting to get details today, the HSEA spokesman said. He hoped there might also be some meetings with these committees today.
Irish Nurses' Organisation general secretary Mr Liam Doran said strike committees had made contact with all health boards, except the Eastern Health Board. Strike committees had also been established in a number of major Dublin hospitals.
"The pace is different around the country, there is no doubt about that," he said. "They are gathering momentum with every day that passes. All hospitals will have their strike committees by Monday at the latest."
It was not possible for the INO executive to agree nationally to emergency cover levels, as it was a matter for each strike committee to assess the needs of each location, Mr Doran said. However, the union had issued guidelines to its members.
As part of the dispute, full cover would be provided for accident and emergency departments and intensive care units would be staffed in accordance with the needs of patients, he said. However, the most significant cuts would be in ordinary wards. The decision as to which cases were emergencies during the dispute would be made by the consultant.
Psychiatric Nurses' Association general secretary Mr Des Kavanagh said his members in the psychiatric and mental handicap areas would be ensuring residential facilities remained open during the dispute.
Meanwhile, nurse managers have expressed serious concern about the lack of any further negotiation to avert the national strike, set for October 19th.
Ms Mary Courtney, president of the Association of Irish Nurse Managers, told its a.g.m. in Dublin yesterday that the absence of any attempts to negotiate was "an abdication of responsibility".