Lunch crisis for 900 patients as hospital chefs walk out

CHEFS walked off the job at Mid-Western Regional Hospital yesterday, leaving catering management in charge of the pots and pans — with more than 900 patients and staff to feed.

A Health Service Executive spokesman said: “We have appealed to chefs employed at Mid-Western Regional Hospital to end this lightning strike and return to work immediately.”

He added that seven chefs walked out yesterday morning in support of a female colleague who was claiming the right to return to work on her own terms after a 10-year period of job sharing and reduced hours.

He said: “Catering management provided a service to over 400 patients and over 500 staff on one of the busiest days of the week.

“This action has broken every rule in the industrial relations handbook. There can be no justification for this strike. Allowing this employee to return to full- time duty on her own terms would have meant displacing without notice two other employees who had been covering for her for many years, and this is simply not on.”

Union officials met with the chefs yesterday to resolve the dispute and get members back to work.

All 900 of the hospital’s patients and staff were given lunch.