Talks to stop industrial action by psychiatric nurses to continue

Talks aimed at averting industrial action by psychiatric nurses in a dispute over recruitment and retention of staff are to continue next week.

Talks took place on Friday between the Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA), the HSE and the Department of Health in a bid to resolve the row.

A spokesman for the PNA said discussions would resume next Wednesday.

Psychiatric nurses are scheduled to commence an escalating campaign of industrial action from June 29th.

Earlier this month, in a ballot, 87 per cent of PNA members voted in favour of industrial action, up to and including strikes.

The union argued at the time that the demand for acute and community mental health services was growing and could not be met “given the current levels of understaffing, with up to 600 nursing vacancies currently and a further 400 to arise from forecasted retirement”.

Speaking at the time, PNA general secretary-designate, Peter Hughes, said the level of support from psychiatric nurses for industrial action reflected "the utter frustration at the growing understaffing in the mental health services at both acute and community levels, and the inability of the HSE to bring forward a realistic plan to address the crisis in the short and long term".