Harris calls on both sides to work to avoid HSE strike



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Health Minister Simon Harris called on all parties to "use state-owned labor relations mechanisms" to avoid strike action by health service support staff at the end of the week.

Ten thousand workers are expected to wage a 24-hour industrial action on Thursday.

Harris said he urged management and the SIPTU union to "redouble efforts" to try to resolve the pay dispute.

The conflict will affect patients in 38 hospitals and health facilities across the country.

The discussions at the Labor Relations Board ended without an agreement last night.

The HSE stated that strike action would have a significant impact on the services and that patients would be contacted by their hospital or local health facility about any changes to the procedures or services provided.

SIPTU stated that its strike committees would engage in dialogue with local management on emergency arrangements to minimize the impact on patients.

Paul Bell, Head of Health Division at SIPTU, said that many services provided by support staff would become apparent, including patient feeding, administration, and patient transportation around hospitals.

HSE senior management will also be in touch later in the day to badess the situation.

Speaking at RTÉ's Morning Ireland show, Bell said the union was still available for interviews at any time and called on Harris to intervene.

He said the union had responded to the WRC's appeal, but that the Department of Public Expenditure Reform and Reform had declared that no amount would be due to its members until 2021.

SIPTU insists that its members are entitled to salary increases under a job evaluation program. Mr. Bell regretted that the workers found themselves in this situation, but the union can not resolve the dispute on its own.

A spokesman for the Minister of Public Spending and Reform, Paschal Donohoe, said there were well-established procedures in the Public Service Stability Agreement to use the country's industrial relations mechanism. # 39; State.

He stated that he remained open to their use to avoid this stop.

At the same time, the president of the Irish Association for Emergency Medicine said that she hoped that the strike committees would have learned of the impact of the nurses' strikes.

Dr. Emily O. Connor, consultant in emergency medicine at Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown, said that to date, she was unaware of any plan of urgency.

Speaking on RTÉ News at One, she said that support staff play a vital role in transferring patients to the hospital system, and she fears that the care provided to patients will be affected.

Dr. O. Connor said that the nurses' strike had a significant impact on emergency services and that she hoped that lessons would have been learned since.

"What I really hope for is that the strike committees learned something after the nurses' strike, which had a huge impact on the health services. But we are already overwhelmed, especially in the acute care sector, and I'm really worried that the care will be affected. "

The HSE said that although efforts are continuing to avoid claim action on Thursday, he will start planning emergency measures with SIPTU.

In a statement, he said emergency planning was meant to "provide the least amount of disruption to patient services." It was also intended to ensure the patient's dignity and the maintenance of patient care. daily essential care.

"The HSE remains committed to the rapid resolution of the strike, which is important given the number of recruitment groups involved and the impact on patients in our acute and community care services.

"We will keep the public informed of any developments that may affect our services."


Read more:
Hospital support staff vote in favor of a strike action
Warning of possible disruption due to strike of health staff


Additional report: Sharon Gaffney

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