Nurses and midwives in Donegal are out on the picket lines again today for the second national Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) strike.
The union has increased the scale of industrial action this week to bring up to 37,000 members out on strike. The number of affected services has increased from 82 last Wednesday to 240 today (Tuesday).
Some 50,000 people will see their appointments in hospital and community services cancelled as a result.
The HSE has confirmed that emergency departments will be open with reduced staffing. The public is advised to go to their GP in the first instance and only present to A&E in the case of a medical emergency.
Other services affected today include:
- All Out Patient, Inpatient and Day Surgery appointments will be cancelled
- Injury Units will be closed
- Routine community nursing services and health centre nurse clinics will be cancelled
- Public day centres and day hospitals for older people or people with disabilities will close
- All planned admissions, including respite and rehabilitation, to public community nursing units and specified centres for people with intellectual disability will be cancelled.
Nurses are striking in a bid for pay parity in the health service, which would mean an increase of about 12%. They are also calling on the HSE to address recruitment and retention issues.
The INMO says the government is not listening to their demands. The Ministers for Health and Finance yesterday issued a statement offering to engage in negotiations with the union over working conditions and job satisfaction.
Joint statement from Minister for Health @SimonHarrisTD & Minister for Finance, Public Expenditure & Reform @Paschald on the current nursing dispute. pic.twitter.com/2LXr2wcInL
— Department of Health (@roinnslainte) February 4, 2019
The INMO said that the government ignoring the pay parity dispute is ‘disrespectful’ to nurses and patients.
