STAFF REPRESENTATIVES at the largest orthopaedic hospital outside Dublin are to meet the Health Service Executive (HSE)next week over plans to downgrade services.
Workers at St Mary's Orthopaedic Hospital on the northside of Cork city have warned that they will take industrial action if necessary to protect their jobs.
Instead of transferring services from the 125-bed facility as proposed, staff want the HSE to further develop the 80-acre Gurranabraher site.
Staff from the 53-year-old facility held a demonstration outside this week's meeting of Cork City Council.
The council unanimously passed a motion pledging their support for the workers at St Mary's, and objecting to the transfer of services to Cork University Hospital in Wilton.
The HSE has now agreed to meet staff and unions to hear their concerns next week, and a full report on the future use of the site will be outlined at next month's meeting of the regional health forum.
Cllr Joe O'Callaghan, Siptu health sector organiser in Cork, said the proposed transfer of orthopaedic services from the northside of the city was "unfair and unacceptable".
"The workers are extremely concerned about their jobs, but they are also very determined that they are absolutely going to resist these moves because they spell out the destruction of a substantial number of jobs."
Mr O'Callaghan said the 220 staff at St Mary's had the support of Siptu, the Irish Nurses' Organisation and Impact to fight for their jobs and that industrial action would be taken if management persisted with this course of action.
Chairwoman of the Siptu committee at St Mary's, Paula Waters, said staff did not trust the HSE's re-assurance that there would be no job losses as a result of any transfer of services.
A spokesman for the HSE said the Cork University Hospital Group was currently reviewing the elective orthopaedic service at St Mary's with a view to determining how best the service could be delivered in the future. No definitive decisions had been taken.
