Siptu said today it cannot rule out further action at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Limerick following a work stoppage in the emergency department there today.
The union said the action, which was staged between 1pm and 5pm, was to highlight a lack of adequate funding from the HSE "which has resulted in dangerous levels of patient overcrowding and understaffing" in the department.
"Unfortunately, due to the HSE management failing to indicate that they will enter into meaningful negotiations with staff representatives on alleviating the unacceptable conditions in the department we cannot rule out further action," Siptu midwest nursing organiser Jim McGrath said.
The union also said contingency plans put in place for the duration of a work stoppage in the A&E department ensured patients received a professional and adequate service.
Earlier today, the HSE had strongly criticised the level of nursing cover to be provided during the work stoppage in the largest hospital in the midwest.
Mr McGrath said HSE claims that there was a lack of co-operation from nursing staff representatives in agreeing contingency cover were "totally untrue".
However, HSE management said it had encountered “an extraordinary lack of co-operation in normal contingency planning for the stoppage which represented a new, unwelcome and potentially dangerous departure in industrial action”.
The action centred on what the nurses describe as “appalling conditions for patients and the clinical safety risks” arising from overcrowding in the unit.
The HSE in the midwest had called on the nursing unions to call off the planned work stoppage. Management said the level of cover proposed by the unions was “inadequate and unacceptable”.