Talks ongoing to avert nurses’ strike at emergency departments

Talks were continuing last night in an effort to reach a deal to avert a nurses’ strike scheduled to take place today at seven hospital emergency departments (EDs).

Representatives of the Irish Nurses and Midwives’ Organisation (INMO) and the Health Service Executive (HSE) were in meetings late last night at the Workplace Relations Commission in an effort to find a resolution.

Even with a resolution, some elective surgery — cancelled in anticipation of a two-hour work stoppage at the affected EDs — will not go ahead. Hospitals where industrial action is scheduled include Beaumont Hospital in Dublin, the Mercy University Hospital in Cork (8am-10am), Tallaght and Cavan General Hospital (10am-12pm), University Hospital Waterford and Tullamore (12pm-2pm), and University Hospital, Galway (2pm-4pm).