Strike action planned for Tullamore hospital

Strike action is planned at the Emergency Department of Tullamore hospital on Thursday next over issues of overcrowding, staffing and patient safety issues.

It follows the rejection by members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) working in the country’s 26 Emergency Departments, by a margin of 58% to 42%, of settlement proposals.

Arising from the rejection of proposals, a national meeting, of INMO Emergency Department Representatives yesterday, directed the Organisation to continue planning for the first day of strike action, in seven ED departments, scheduled for next Thursday, January 14.

The hospitals involved, in the action next Thursday, will be;
Beaumont Hospital, Dublin; Mercy University Hospital, Cork; Tallaght Hospital, Dublin; Cavan General Hospital; Midland Regional Hospital, Tullamore; University Hospital Galway; and University Hospital, Waterford.

INMO General Secretary Liam Doran said “It is quite clear that health employers will have to make a monumental effort, commencing this weekend, to begin convincing frontline nursing staff, in Emergency Departments, that the WRC proposals will be implemented and will make a real difference to patient care and safe nursing practice”.
The INMO will be making contact with the HSE with the view to having further discussions commence immediately.