Talks between union and management take place tomorrow on the threat of industrial action by nurses at St Joseph's Hospital in Clonmel. The threat concerns overcrowding.
The Irish Nurses' Organisation says members will withdraw co-operation with the placing of beds on corridors and refuse to carry out "non-nursing duties" unless the situation is resolved.
A ballot of about 150 nurses on such action was completed yesterday, and the result will be known tomorrow afternoon. The indications are that the vote will be overwhelmingly in favour of the action, according to an industrial relations officer with the union, Mr Don Culliton.
The current situation, he said, gave rise to serious health and safety implications and he called on the Tipperary South chief fire officer to intervene to have beds removed from corridors.
"The difficulty is that this is a very old building, and the corridors are narrower than in other hospitals. If a patient requires a crash [emergency] trolley, you can't get it through," he said. The union wants management to provide a temporary structure for 18 to 20 patients, pending completion of redevelopment work.
The South Eastern Health Board said it regretted the INO's action, given that the Department of Health and Children had approved a capital grant of £815,000 last month for the provision of additional beds, with work on this under way.
"The additional bed capacity will meet the service needs presently giving rise to beds on corridors and the health, safety and fire standards required," it said in a statement.
St Joseph's was not unlike other general hospitals throughout the State in that it had experienced a significant increase in the demand for acute medical services.
The INO is also concerned about under-staffing at the hospital, and the board said management was making every effort to provide additional staff.
"The board also wishes to point out that work is presently under way on Phase 1 of its hospital development project at St Joseph's . . . This will be completed by November of next year at a cost of over £15 million. A further £17 million has been earmarked in the National Development Plan for the development of Phase 2," it said.
Mr Culliton said the making of beds was among the "non-nursing duties" union members would no longer carry out. "There will not be a strike, but we want to put as much pressure on them as possible to get the situation redressed. The situation at the moment is intolerable for patients and staff," he said.
Tipperary South County Council said the chief fire officer, Mr Con Murphy, was on holiday. Attempts to obtain a comment from an alternative representative of the council were unsuccessful.