Talks aimed at resolving the dispute by Accident and Emergency nurses remained deadlocked late last evening. No agreement has been reached in the negotiations, under the auspices of the Labour Relations Commission, on key areas such as an efficient bed management policy and staffing structures.
The dispute, which enters its second week today, has resulted in the cancellation of hundreds of elective admissions at hospitals in Dublin, Galway, Limerick and Drogheda, lengthening waiting lists for treatment in each area.
In several other areas, including Cork, Cavan, Waterford and Wexford, waiting lists are also increasing, with elective admissions cancelled for several days due to the winter vomiting bug.
Last night the Minister for Health, Mr Martin, told The Irish Times he was "very concerned" the work-to-rule was still ongoing.
He again appealed to the nurses to call off their work-to-rule. "I am concerned about its ongoing impact. Certainly the action is going to have an impact on patients across the board although it remains to be seen the level and scale of that impact," he said.
Mr Martin will today convene a forum on nursing which will look at the needs of A&E departments, including the admission and discharge of patients. Both doctors and nurses will make submissions.
Planned admissions are likely to be deferred again today at Galway's University College Hospital, a Western Health Board spokeswoman said. She confirmed 80 admissions had been cancelled since last Wednesday when the industrial action began.
Up to 60 admissions will also be cancelled daily at the major Dublin hospitals while the dispute continues. Six elective procedures were deferred yesterday at the Mid Western Regional Hospital in Limerick and routine electives were also cancelled at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda.
The nurses are refusing to answer telephones, insert intravenous drips, do ECGs or take blood samples in protest at overcrowding and poor facilities for patients in A&E units. Yesterday, as their industrial action entered its seventh day, the pressure on casualty units became more severe with the numbers attending climbing again after having tapered off following appeals to the public to stay away if at all possible and attend their GP instead.
Dr Peter O'Connor, an A&E consultant at Dublin's Mater Hospital, said people with minor injuries who should be attending their GP were beginning to "sneak back in" and had to be seen. He said non-urgent cases were being deferred at a cost that could not be estimated. Dr Coleman O'Leary, another A&E consultant, said attendances at A&E in the Mid Western Regional Hospital in Limerick where he is based were beginning to rise again. "People are getting sick and can't stay at home any more," he said.
A spokeswoman for the Eastern Regional Health Authority said attendances were now climbing at A&E units but were still lower than normal for this time of year.
Health boards in the north-west, south, south-east and midlands said they did not have to cancel procedures.
SIPTU's national nursing official, Mr Oliver McDonagh, has called for a review of the use of A&E units, following a quiet weekend in many casualty departments, which appeared to indicate they were often used inappropriately.