A ward attendants' strike, affecting services to some of the most incapacitated people in hospitals in Dublin, is set to escalate next week and may be widened to include other staff, SIPTU has warned.
Yesterday's 24-hour strike by ward attendants in pursuit of an 8 per cent pay increase affected psychiatric hospitals and long-stay hospitals for older people as well as St Colmcille's acute hospital in Loughlinstown, Co Wicklow. Next week's strike is due to last for 48 hours on Thursday and Friday, and SIPTU is considering balloting other members such as porters and caterers to strike in support of the ward attendants, according to the union's Dublin health service official, Mr Raymon O'Reilly. The work done by ward attendants includes helping with the hygiene needs of patients and feeding them. The dispute arises from an 8 per cent pay award made in 2000 to attendants in major Dublin teaching hospitals. It arose from changes in nurse training which would mean extra work for attendants. Fine Gael health spokeswoman, Ms Olivia Mitchell, yesterday backed their claim. "Caring for suffers of dementia and psychiatric patients is unglamorous, arduous and difficult work and its value to society must be recognised to be at least as great as similar work in acute hospitals," she said.
Apart from St Colmcille's the hospitals involved are St Mary's Hospital, Phoenix Park, Bru Chaoimhin Home, Cork Street, St Ita's Psychiatric Services, Portrane, St Brendan's, Grangegorman, and Clonskeagh Hospital.