Emergency department nurses vote in favour of strike action in December

General Secretary of the INMO Liam Doran says nurses don’t want to strike – but feel they have no option due to poor conditions.

Ninety two per cent of INMO (Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation) members have voted in favour of strike action today.

Most of the country’s Emergency Departments will be involved, with the exception of the mid-west, as the region only has one Emergency Department.

The vote was put to members as a result of overcrowding in emergency departments nationwide.

Nationwide industrial action will take place on Tuesday, December 15, and will continue on a simultaneous/rolling basis into 2016 also.

Tony O’Brien said health service management was keen to use the State’s industrial relations machinery to ensure industrial action by members of the INMO did not go ahead.

The union says it is a last resort after 10 years of “discussions and broken promises”.

The INMO will reveal the nature of the of any strike action later this morning.

Any industrial action will pose a headache for the Government and in particular Minister for Health Leo Varadkar, who has come under fire after incidents of patients spending long periods on trolleys.

Proper, full and 24/7 implementation of agreed escalation policies to minimise overcrowding in both Emergency Departments and wards.

According to monthly INMO figures, UHL had the second-highest rate of overcrowding in the country in October, with 763 people on trolleys.

Dublin North East: Beaumont Hospital; Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda; Connolly Hospital; Cavan General Hospital; Rotunda Hospital; Louth County Hospital; Monaghan Hospital.

October was the toughest month for Emergency Departments with 7,971 people left on trolleys – the worst October since 2004.