Hospital doctors to strike over work hours

Patients are set to be thrown into the middle of a nationwide industrial relations row after hospital doctors voted for strike action over their “dangerous” working hours.

The Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) confirmed the move will occur within the next three weeks after a ballot of 1,000 of the union’s 2,000 junior doctors found 97% in favour of the controversial step.

The union said junior doctors are being forced to work up to 100 hours a week in hospitals throughout the country, shift-lengths which are in breach of a 13-year-old European Working Time Directive.

The rules state that no one should be working more than 48 hours a week or face shifts in excess of 24 hours.

Officials have attempted to negotiate with the HSE and Department of Health to reduce the hours, which include shifts of up to 48 hours.

However, despite promises from Health Minister James Reilly to address the problem by Dec 2014, the union claims little has changed — meaning it has been left with no other option than to strike.

“Doctors are worried and angry. The concerns which they highlighted about the danger posed to hospital patients and to themselves continue to be ignored,” said IMO assistant director of industrial relations Eric Young.

“There is now a strong appetite to step up the campaign to force the HSE and the Department of Health to do what everyone knows must be done — implement the [European directive] and stop the dangerous and cruel exploitation of NCHDs [junior doctors] in Irish hospitals.”

The IMO’s non-consultant hospital doctor committee will meet this evening to decide on when the strike will take place and what exactly it will involve.

While officials have already confirmed the strike will not affect any emergency care services, patients have been warned to brace themselves for longer hospital waiting lists and cuts to badly needed services.

Under industrial relations rules, the union must give the HSE three weeks’ notice of any strike action.

The IMO is due to meet with the HSE tomorrow to discuss what contingency plans can be put in place to minimise the impact on patients.

However, as the point of the strike is to pressurise the HSE and Department of Health to makes changes, these contingency measures will be limited.

While Mr Reilly — who is a former IMO president — has been at pains to stress his support for change in recent months, the union’s senior official Mr Young said doctors do not believe his claims.

“When you read his comments you’d think he was still president of the IMO. But he’s the Minister for Health now, he can fix this chaotic situation with the stroke of a pen but he won’t do it,” Mr Young said.