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Nurses stage lunchtime protest in County Waterford

Nurses stage lunchtime protest in County Waterford

Nurses in County Waterford are protesting this lunchtime to highlight staff shortages.

They're protesting against what they believe is the HSE's failure to recruit enough nurses for Dungarvan Community Hospital to meet the service needs.

This will be followed by a work to rule on Monday, November 21, 2016.

Mary Power is industrial relations officer for the Irish Nurses and Midwives organisation:

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"Basically the action today is a lunchtime protest, highlighting the reality that there are 12 vacant nursing positions in this hospital and cannot be refilled.

Therefore nurses have made the decision after nearly two years of identifiying small amounts of vacancies that are culminating and there's a large number of posts that are empty to say we have to now maximise patient care and let go some of the non essential duties, clerical, admin and support duties that nurses would engage in so that they focus purely on patient care delivery."

INMO members met with management last Tuesday.

They've been called to meet with management again this evening.

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Meanwhile,
In a statement to Beat News The HSE said  it's disappointed the INMO will be proceeding with limited industrial action at Dungarvan Community Hospital.

The HSE states they have been working closely with staff representatives in order to ensure that all nursing vacancies at the hospital are filled.

They also want to assure patients and the public that normal services will not be affected.

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