Midwives in Cork are to meet tonight to consider the latest Health Service Executive (HSE) proposals aimed at resolving the dispute that threatens the opening of the new Cork University Maternity Hospital.
The HSE and the Irish Nurses' Organisation (INO) failed to disclose exact details yesterday, but it is hoped the HSE proposal regarding the build-up of staff levels at the new hospital over the next eight weeks will address staffing concerns and lead to its opening on Saturday.
An earlier proposal that would see the HSE open 128 beds at the 144-bed hospital, with an initial staff of 315 midwives and nurses, was recommended by the INO's negotiators for acceptance.
However, midwives voted to overwhelmingly reject this proposal last Friday. That rejection led to the deferral of the opening of the hospital last Saturday.
Both sides have been in regular contact this week in a bid to reach agreement on how the HSE can increase numbers of midwives and nurses to the 375 figure recommended by the Labour Court.
INO general secretary Liam Doran, who will travel to Cork for tonight's meeting at the Rochestown Park Hotel, said that midwives had concerns about relying on working overtime to provide proper cover, a practice that had been criticised in a recent report on the workings of the maternity unit at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda.
