SIPTU: Cutbacks mean thousands of temporary health staff will lose jobs

SIPTU has predicted thousands of temporary health staff will lose their jobs as a result of the Government’s public service cutbacks.

At the union’s national nursing conference in Sligo, national nursing officer Louise O’Reilly told delegates that even though the temporary staff had demonstrated a commitment to the health service, nurses and midwives were “facing the dole queue or the airport” due to the reduction in service.

She said that in January 2009 there were 5,531 patients on trolleys, representing an increase of 20% on the previous January.