Striking nurses are coming under intense pressure to increase emergency cover in hospitals amid claims by consultants and management that patient welfare is suffering.
The calls follow reports of growing friction between medical staff and nurses' strike committees in some hospitals over the level of care given in emergency cases.
The Irish Medical Organisation president, Dr Fenton Howell, said concern was growing at the adequacy of emergency cover over the bank holiday weekend when there is usually an increase in road traffic accidents and alcohol-related emergencies. The representative body for the State's 1,200 consultants said emergency cover in most hospitals was "wafer thin" and urged nurses to deal with emergency patients at the same levels as before the strike.
The Irish Hospital Consultants Association said patient welfare had suffered in recent days and services were at breaking point.
The association's spokesman, Mr Finbarr Fitzpatrick, said there has been "significant co-operation" between nurses and the doctors in providing emergency services since the strike began. "It must nonetheless be stated that it was not possible in many instances to observe the best medical practice, and the care provided for many patients fell short of the degree of excellence to which doctors and nurses aspire."
The chief executive officer of Crumlin hospital, Mr Paul Kavanagh, said doctors believed the dispute has "compromised the care" of very ill children, who require emergency treatment.
The Irish Nurses' Organisation last night maintained that levels of unpaid cover by its members in emergency situations was adequate and would continue over the weekend. The union's industrial relations officer, Mr John Delamere, said patients were getting "full professional nursing care".
Strains between medical staff and local strike committees have emerged in hospitals including Waterford Regional, Limerick Regional and the Mater in Dublin.
In the Mater, a member of medical staff, who did not wish to be named, said basic nursing care for emergency patients was not being provided in all cases. Medical staff have complained that patients were not receiving sufficient care once they were transferred from the accident and emergency department to wards.
Significantly, non-consultant hospital doctors at the Mater did not sign a statement of sympathy to nurses issued by their colleagues in the four other main acute Dublin hospitals. A junior doctor at the hospital who did not wish to be named said the Mater's medical staff took issue with the statement's opinion that in-patient care had not been unduly compromised in the hospitals.