Striking nurses are to stage a further series of hour-long work stoppages at hospitals in Dublin and Roscommon on Friday, unions announced today.
As thousands of nurses and midwives continued their protest for better pay and working hours, the Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) and the Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA) revealed the next four hospitals that will be targeted with industrial action.
Liam Doran
Dublin's Beaumont Hospital, St Ita's Psychiatric Service and St Joseph's Intellectual Disability Service, Portrane, Roscommon General Hospital and Roscommon Mental Health Services will be affected by work stoppages on Friday.
Protests will be held outside all of the hospitals from 11am until noon, however, unions have vowed that all essential and emergency care will be provided during the stoppage.
The INO and PNA have also agreed that critical treatment will not be affected by the stoppages, which they say will cause minimal disruption to patients but maximum disruption to management.
The 40,000 members are demanding a pay increase of 10.5 per cent and a reduction to a 35-hour working week which has been refused by the Health Service Executive (HSE).
Liam Doran, the INO general secretary, said the "scaremongering" engaged in recent days that cancer and other critical treatment would be affected or disrupted is untrue.
"The health employers are obviously engaged in brinkmanship with regard to this dispute in their failure to commit to the recommencement of meaningful negotiations aimed at resolving the outstanding issues," Mr Doran told hundreds of nurses outside Dublin's St Vincent Hospital.
"While we have a mandate to continue this escalation it remains our preference that real negotiations on these claims would commence without further delay. "However, our members' commitment, as demonstrated by the level of participation in today's work stoppage, remains absolute in pursuance of satisfactory progress on these matters."
"This campaign can continue for a long period but we would remind the general public that it is the employers who are prevaricating and laying down a context and conditions for further negotiation," said PNA Industrial Relations Officer Seamus Murphy said.
Hour-long work stoppages took place today at St Vincent's, and at South Tipperary General Hospital where almost 30 surgical operations were cancelled.
Passing motorists beeped their horns in support of the nurses who carried placards and banners demanding better working conditions.
St Vincent's said all planned theatre procedures have been going ahead in line with the revised schedules that were drawn up to deal with the one hour work stoppage.
"As anticipated, there are some delays in out-patients and day patients services. However, it is important that patients scheduled for this afternoon attend at their appointed time and they do not need to contact the hospital in advance," it said.
The hospital also advised members of the public to attend their GP, where possible, before attending the Emergency Department because of the disruption.
The Health Service Executive (HSE) today urged union leaders to engage in talks to find a resolution to the current situation.
It said: "There are clear avenues and official channels for the nursing unions to pursue their claims and the HSE is willing to engage meaningfully through those mechanisms. Nothing can be achieved without talks."
"There will be no winners from today's action which is unfair on patients, their families and other staff" said Brendan Mulligan of the Health Service Executive Employers Agency.
"The issues can be progressed in a fair and reasonable way if all parties are prepared to commit themselves to exploring the issues with openness and in a spirit of cooperation, against the backdrop of the Labour Court recommendations," he said.
"With regard to the unions' demands for wage rises, benchmarking remains the only way forward," he added.
Industrial action began last week after three weeks of negotiations between health chiefs and unions collapsed during crunch talks at Government buildings.
Nursing staff nationwide worked to rule, refusing to carry out non-essential duties including answering telephones, working computer systems and attending meetings.
Meanwhile the National Implementation Body will meet at Government buildings this afternoon to decide if there is any basis to intervene in the nursing dispute.
Beaumont hospital said this evening it was still finalising its contingency plans ahead of the notified work stoppage.
A hospital spokesman said a further meeting was scheduled with the INO strike committee tomorrow morning to finalise arrangements.
"Subject to the outcome of these discussions, the hospital hopes to be in a position to provide services as normal, including outpatient and day patient appointments, although the stoppage may lead to some delays.
"If any Friday appointments need to be cancelled affected patients will be contacted tomorrow," he said.