Hospital services in Portlaoise hit by lab strike says HSE

Strike action by laboratory staff in Portlaoise and other hospitals has led to cancellations and caused A&Es to be very busy, according to the HSE in Dublin and the Midlands.

The Medical Laboratory Scientists Association (MLSA) say their industrial action on May 18 was embarked on to address a 20-year pay disparity issue, the shortage of medical scientists, and the lack of career progression.

The HSE's Dublin Midland's Hospital Group oversees hospitals in Laois, Offaly, Kildare and Dublin. It outlined the impact.

"MLSA industrial action today has led to the cancellation across hospitals of many services including some elective inpatient and day-case procedures, outpatient appointments and GP lab testing services. 

"Many Emergency Departments have reportedly been very busy with patients presenting with non-urgent care needs experiencing delays in many hospitals.

"Local strike committees have been established in all hospitals and they are liaising with MLSA representatives locally to manage issues as they arise and to ensure the provision of a limited range of services safely.

"While lab services will resume as normal tomorrow, a built up demand for tests is likely to result in delayed turnaround times for both hospital and GP requested tests throughout tomorrow and Friday.

"However, all efforts will be made to minimise the impact of this disruption to services. Appointments and procedures disrupted by today’s industrial action will be rescheduled as soon as possible.

"The HSE is continuing to engage with all parties to seek to avert further Industrial Action planned for the next week and the coming weeks," said the statement.

The MLSA said it is the sole trade union representing almost 2000 medical scientists in Ireland.

It explained the reason for industrial action in advance of stopping work.

"The MLSA has made every effort to avoid taking industrial action, because of the serious impact it will have on the health service and on patient care, and to protect benefits already held by members. However, despite lengthy negotiations, it has not been possible to secure a mechanism to resolve our claim and  it is now clear that without industrial action we cannot achieve our longstanding goal and rightful expectation of parity with clinical biochemists, as recommended by the 2001 Expert Group  and accepted by the HSE and Department of Health," it said.

Further information on service disruptions today is available on www.hse.ie/disruptions