A total of 45,000 nurses at every public hospital and mental health facility in the State are expected to stop work for two hours tomorrow in their dispute over pay and conditions.
The nurses' dispute, now in its seventh week, will escalate further on Friday when nurses will begin a total ban on overtime. The nurses are seeking a 10.6 per cent pay rise, as well a reduction in their full-time working hours from 39 hours per week to 35.
Nurses picket outside Beaumont Hospital yesterday.Work stoppages are set to escalate tomorrow. Image: Dara Mac Donaill.
The Health Service Executive claims the dispute is causing major disruption to services and to patients, and that it is costing up to €3 million per week..
The latest move of withdrawing from doing any overtime, announced by the executive of the Irish Nurses' Organisation (INO) and the Psychiatric Nurses' Association (PNA), is expected to have a major impact across all services.
It is the most serious escalation of the dispute to date and could lead to beds being closed as hospitals depend on nurses doing overtime to staff all of their beds. Emergency cover may also be affected.
About 1,000 nurses took part in work stoppages in Dublin, Naas and Sligo yesterday in the latest in a series of rolling stoppages.
More than 300 patient appointments were cancelled yesterday when nurses stopped work for three hours at three acute hospitals in Dublin, Kildare and Sligo. The stoppages also affected mental health services in Kildare, Sligo and at St Ita's hospital in Portrane, Dublin.
Management at St James's Hospital in Dublin has been in talks with nurses' representatives in an effort to minimise the impact on patients of tomorrow's stoppages.
In a statement today, the hospital said all services will be provided tomorrow except for 27 outpatient appointments and four day-case procedures that are being rescheduled.
It warned that the emergency department will be under increased pressure and asked members of the public to attend their GP where possible.
Tallaght hospital also said it regretted any inconvenience that may be caused by the stoppage from 10am to noon tomorrow.
"Unfortunately, a number of appointments and procedures due to take place on the morning of the stoppage have had to be deferred," the hospital said in a statement.
There will be a limited out-patient and day service available and there will be no GP phlebotomy service on Wednesday morning, the hospital said.
Management has met with INO representatives and contingency plans have been agreed for the duration of the stoppage.