Nurses in Drogheda protest over staffing

Nurses will start industrial action in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, at 8 a.m

Nurses will start industrial action in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, at 8 a.m. today in a dispute over staffing levels.

The action will take the form of a work to rule and a lunchtime protest.

The Irish Nurses' Organisation (INO) said five nurses by day and four nurses by night struggle to provide emergency care to 35,000 patients per year.

The INO said Drogheda hospital is a unsustainable facility for optimal emergency care because of space constraints, a lack of paediatric facilities and staff shortages.

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Speaking earlier today, INO industrial relations officer, Ms Patsy Doyle said: "Our members have reached breaking point. They are committed to providing a safe service but the NEHB [North Eastern Health Board] will not hear what they are saying on behalf of their patients".

Ms Doyle claims the solution is one additional nurse per shift.