Nurses will take industrial action from next week at a hospital in Clonmel which the South Eastern Health Board has been told is a fire hazard due to overcrowding.
The board was told in writing by the chief fire officer of Tipperary South last May that it was in breach of its statutory duties and should remove beds from the corridors of St Joseph's Hospital. This has still not happened.
About 150 members of the Irish Nurses' Organisation voted for industrial action in July, but agreed to defer it on an assurance by the board that the overcrowding would be resolved by mid-September.
Mr Don Culliton, industrial relations officer with the union, said beds continued to be placed on the hospital's corridors. "This is both an unsafe situation for nursing staff and impinges on the dignity of patients." From next Wednesday INO members will withdraw co-operation with the placing of these beds and refuse to carry out "non-nursing duties".
The health board said it regretted the action and it was "trying to reach a solution to this complex problem and eliminate overcrowding". Talks are to take place next Tuesday.
