Healthcare workers to take part in lunchtime protest outside Tipperary University Hospital

Members of Fórsa trade union, working at Tipperary University Hospital in Clonmel, will take part in a lunchtime protest on Thursday (24th October) between 12.30pm and 1.30pm at the hospital's main entrance on the Western Road.

The protest is one of a series of lunchtime protests by members of Fórsa and other unions, organised in response to the what it described as the HSE's "suppression" of thousands of frontline health posts.

The trade union said unfilled health posts means that services – including community health services, acute health services, mental health services and services to older people – are affected because these areas are short staffed. It also means waiting lists for these services are getting longer.

Thursday's protest in Clonmel follows similar protests in recent weeks at hospitals in Cavan, Cork, Dublin, Galway, Kerry, Kildare, Kilkenny, Mayo, Offaly and Sligo, while more protests are to take place in the coming weeks.

Fórsa members at the hospital in Clonmel, and other HSE employments in the region, have been balloting for industrial action since last week (October 14).

Fórsa said current pressures on services are set to get worse as demand rises in the winter months, while existing staff are forced to cope with an insufficient complement of staff in most departments.

Colette O'Connell, chair of Fórsa's Tipperary South Health and Community branch, said continuing employment restrictions are putting patient services under enormous strain: “Against the backdrop of increased services and higher demands from an ageing population with more complex needs, the HSE remains under-resourced. Unfortunately, that’s having an effect on services in Tipperary and Waterford, as we see so many health posts unfilled.

“The HSE has entered a process of chaotic downsizing and arbitrary decisions to leave critical frontline positions unfilled, which severely compromises the ability of Fórsa members' to safely deliver health services. Our members in Clonmel and other HSE employments are taking a stand on Thursday to protect services,” she said.

Fórsa representatives will tell the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health tomorrow (Wednesday, October 23) that the HSE’s ‘Pay and Numbers’ strategy - which confirms the suppression of thousands of health posts as a consequence of the HSE’s recent recruitment embargo - is negatively impacting on services, threatens public service healthcare provision and is likely to be the cause of a major industrial dispute in the health sector this winter.

A recent survey of Fórsa members, which drew close to 4,000 individual responses from members working in health services, shows that 88% of respondents said there are vacancies within their departments, with the number of vacancies varying between one and twenty, with some departments operating with more than 20 vacancies.

The survey further revealed that 42% of respondents said the number of vacancies in their department has increased since the end of 2023, while 73% of respondents indicated the impact of these vacancies on staff have been very negative, citing increased safety risks and low staff morale.