60 Southdoc nurses put on protective notice

SIXTY nurses who provide back-up to a GP out-of-hours service have been put on protective notice in a row over proposals to reduce posts and pay.

Southdoc, which operates in Cork and Kerry, is proposing to make 22 nurses redundant at a number of its 22 treatment centres. It is also seeking to impose a 15% pay cut on remaining nursing staff.

The punitive action is on foot of a 5% cut in health service funding to the GP co-op, according to its medical director Dr Gary Stack.