Army ready to cover for psychiatric nurses

DEFENCE forces medical staff were on standby last night to offer weekend cover to the Central Mental Hospital as an overtime ban on psychiatric nurses decimated staff numbers.

The decision to call on the army for support was being considered as the Health Service Executive (HSE) and psychiatric nursing unions met late last night at the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) in a last-ditch attempt to avert an escalation of disruptive action from Monday.

Of concern at the LRC was the compensation package the HSE has proposed for the country’s 7,000 psychiatric nurses.