Nurses’ Strike Day 2: Tallaght nurses back out on the picket line

Nurses’ Strike Day 2: Tallaght nurses back out on the picket line

By Mary Dennehy

NURSES and midwives will be engaging in two further days of strike action on Tuesday and Thursday of this week. 

Last Wednesday’s strike affected around 25,000 patients, with today’s industrial action by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) expected to affect 50,000 medical appointments.

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Tallaght University Hospital this morning

Industrial action has been escalated since last week, with the number of services being affected increasing from 80 to 240 – with respite care of the elderly now included.

The INMO announced two additional strike dates last weekend, February 19 and 21.

Strike dates now include, February 5, 7, 12, 13, 14, 19 and 21.

A national rally is also being planned for this Saturday, February 9.

A picket started outside Tallaght University Hospital earlier this morning, with nurses maintaining a presence at the gate until 4pm.

twitter In Stream Tall close upfinA picket started outside Tallaght University Hospital earlier this morning

Last Wednesday, nurses at Tallaght received a strong show of support from the public, patients, local businesses and services as they braved the cold conditions to highlight their fight for better pay and work conditions – and better patient outcomes and safe staffing levels.

Speaking with The Echo during last week’s strike action, a TUH nurse said: “We need the Government to acknowledge that we have a staffing crisis in frontline nurses and that something needs to be done about it.

“We need meaningful, genuine and realistic proposals to try and recruit and retain more nurses.

“To keep patients safe we need to hire more nurses and there’s enough research that shows that the more patients a nurse looks after, the worse the patient outcomes are.”

According to Tallaght University Hospital, the INMO strike action this week impacts both its adult and children’s services.

“Similar to last week a level of emergency cover will be provided but all services across the hospital will be impacted, especially our outpatients and elective activity.

“We are asking the public where possible to attend their GP or out-of-hours services in the first instance. 

“People are advised to attend our ED only if deemed absolutely essential. 

“ED patients are seen in order of priority, which may result in patients with minor illnesses or injuries experiencing delays.”

The hospital added that it will contact anybody who has had an outpatient appointment postponed or is scheduled for an elective procedure.

For further details visit Tallaght University Hospital Facebook page or www.tuh.ie.

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