Nurses threaten action unless Harney cures A

NURSES are threatening to take industrial action unless Health Minister Mary Harney resolves the A&E crisis.

SIPTU’s National Nursing Council said there was absolutely nothing new in the minister’s 10-point plan to alleviate overcrowding and nurses would no longer tolerate being “fobbed off”.

SIPTU nurses working in A&E units also claimed consultants were partly to blame for the problem; it simply took too long for patients to be discharged.