It’s expected the Labour Court will review the strike by nurses tomorrow morning, in an effort to avert widespread disruption to the health service next week.
Three strike days - by members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) and the Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA) - are due to take place next week amid the continuing dispute over pay and staff shortages.
The planned industrial action could see over 80,000 patients potentially having their medical appointments cancelled.
Government sources said they believe the Labour Court will review the nurses' dispute early tomorrow morning.
The court said 10 days ago that the sides were too far apart for it to intervene, so any further review would be a significant development.
However, there’s no signs that either the nursing unions - who want a 12% pay increase - or the Government - which says it cannot afford those rises - have changed their positions.
It could be that the court is making one last attempt to resolve the row and prevent what the HSE worries would be huge disruption across the health sector next week.
Third day of strike action
The latest 24-hour strike by nurses and midwives from the INMO is due to continue until 8am on Friday morning.
Our strike enters day 3 today.
No nurse or midwife wants to go on strike, but sadly there are STILL no proposals from the government.#standwithmidwives #standwithnurses pic.twitter.com/LbAe84DOhv
— Irish Nurses & Midwives Organisation (@INMO_IRL) February 7, 2019
Some cancer surgeries, planned procedures, outpatient appointments and community nursing services didn’t go ahead today, with around 27,000 patients affected.
Teams from the HSE and nursing unions have been engaged in contingency planning, with that set to continue for next week’s strikes.
Next week's action will place next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday - involving 43,000 nurses from the INMO and PNA.
The HSE is warning that longer the strike goes on, the more concerned it is about rescheduling vital appointments - especially for people needing time-sensitive care.
Reporting by Shane Beatty and Stephen McNeice
