Emergency cover will be provided by junior doctors if their strike goes ahead on May 17th, but all routine work will halt.
The Non-Consultant Hospital Doctors (NHCD) committee of the Irish Medical Organisation met yesterday to discuss the level of cover to be provided during the strike.
According to Dr Mick Molloy, IMO vice-president, the following services will be disrupted: routine theatre work, outpatient work, routine admissions for investigations, day care/day hospitals and elective admissions for the following day. "However, these can vary from hospital to hospital," Dr Molloy said.
Meetings will be arranged with Medical Boards and consultants to reach agreement on the type and level of emergency cover to be provided in each hospital. Dr Molloy said the number of doctors being made available for emergency cover would be the standard number of doctors on call plus one additional doctor.
The NCHD committee has agreed that in the event of a major accident or disaster, the standard contingency plans would operate as normal.
The committee agreed that strike action will accelerate to a further two days on the following week - May 24th and May 25th - if no progress is made.
Junior doctors are seeking a reduced working week, overtime to be paid at premium rates and the elimination of regular unpaid overtime through better staffing ratios and locum cover.
