Nurses to strike at 22 hospitals on Friday

Nurses across the State are to stage one-hour stoppages in 22 health services this Friday in a major escalation of their industrial action.

HSE faces new series of work stoppages by nurses.

The escalation follows the breakdown of Government-hosted talks last night over the demands by 45,000 nurses and midwives for a 10.6 per cent pay rise and the introduction of a 35-hour working week.

The Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) and the Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA) said at a joint press conference that stoppages would affect 31 hospitals next week and on Friday May 11th they will begin three-hour stoppages in eight locations.

This Friday, hospitals in Galway, Mayo, Cork, Limerick, Wicklow, Dublin, Meath, Louth, Kerry, Offaly and Wexford will see nurses stand down from their duties for one hour. However, a review of the campaign will take place next Thursday in Dublin when it may be decided to further increase the intensity of the action.

The escalation follows a joint meeting of the two unions' executives during which INO general secretary Liam Doran said both unions were "completely frustrated" by what he called the "failure" of the HSE to grasp their offer to expand the role of the nurse and midwife in return for "meaningful negotiation" about their demands.

Mr Doran said: "We obviously haven't applied enough pressure to bring the employer to the table. We have to increase the pressure."

The unions and the Health Service Executive (HSE) have blamed each other for the failure of the talks, which had been ongoing for the last week under the aegis of the National Implementation Body (NIB).

The unions, which represent 45,000 nurses and midwives, have vowed to continue their campaign for better pay and working hours. The unions have also accused the HSE of failing patients and nurses by walking away from radical reform.

Brendan Mulligan of the HSE said he did not believe health services could continue to cope with the industrial action. "Patients are suffering," he said. "The system is slowly grinding to a halt."

A nationwide work to rule, which began on March 12th, is continuing in facilities all over the country, with nursing staff refusing to answer telephones, do IT duties or attend meetings. Yesterday, the INO and PNA published an offer they had tabled to the HSE giving nurses an enhanced role.

They unveiled changes to admissions and discharge, faster response times and cost-cutting measures. The package also included a commitment to cut A&E waiting times by four hours, reduce overcrowding overall by giving more power to senior nurses rather than waiting for overworked doctors, and allow nurses to prescribe and administer drugs including pain relief and antibiotics.

In return they want a 35-hour working week and a 10.6% pay rise.

INO/PNA WORK STOPPAGES

Friday, 4 ^thMay 2007

TUESDAY, 8 ^THMAY 2007

WEDNESDAY, 9 ^THMAY 2007

FRIDAY, 11 ^THMAY 2007