Medical scientists to suspend strike action tomorrow and enter talks in Labour Court & More Trending News

Updated 1 hour in the past

MEDICAL SCIENTISTS WILL suspend their strike action tomorrow, with the union set to enter exploratory talks in the Labour Court alongside the Department of Health and HSE.

The Labour Court has intervened in the continued dispute, with the Medical Laboratory Scientists Association (MLSA) and the HSE/Department of Health accepting the invitation to interact in talks.

Following the announcement, the MLSA has issued a discover to its 2,100 members to suspend the strike action deliberate for tomorrow and to return to work as regular in all hospital laboratories. 

In a press release, MLAS General Secretary Terry Casey mentioned that the union will enter the talks in good religion and with commitments to resolve the recruitment and retention points throughout the sector.

“The MLSA’s Executive Committee met this afternoon and has agreed to accept the Labour Court’s invitation. We will remain focused on what is required to achieve a sustainable work structure for Medical Scientists, patients and the Irish health service,” mentioned Casey.

Earlier at the moment, medical scientists mentioned that they made each effort to keep away from at the moment’s strike action, however felt they’d been left with no different choice after a 20-year declare for pay parity with colleagues who do the identical work. 

The MLSA has mentioned no method has been made by the HSE or Department of Health since final week’s strike day, which resulted in the cancellation of hundreds of procedures and appointments.

Picket line

Speaking to The Journal on the picket exterior St James’ Hospital in Dublin this morning, MLSA industrial relations officer Bronagh O’Leary mentioned the union believes the HSE has “room to manoeuvre” regardless of public pay agreements. 

“We’ve been trying to be very reasonable in that process, but this is a 20-year claim,” she mentioned. 

The dispute centres on a decades-long demand for pay parity with colleagues in laboratories who’re doing the identical work. The union has mentioned medical scientists are paid on common 8% lower than colleagues in hospital laboratories who’re doing the identical work. Medical laboratory aides, who report to medical scientists, additionally begin on a better wage.

St James’s Hospital the place lab medical scientists from @MedLabAssoc are starting two days of strike action over pay parity, burnout and profession pathways.

They say they perform the identical job as colleagues in hospital labs however are paid a median 8% much less. pic.twitter.com/lgUND3r8pS

— Rónán Duffy (@ronanduffy_) May 24, 2022

O’Leary mentioned the problem goes again to the 50s and 60s when biochemists had a school diploma, whereas medical scientists – then referred to as lab technicians – skilled on the job.

“That’s been dead for a long, long time. I went to college, I’m a graduate of the 80s, I have a degree, I have a masters,” she mentioned.

70% of our of our scientists have masters levels, and they’re state registered with Coru [the health and social care regulator] and they’ve performed a medical placement in all of the disciplines of the laboratory and they’re greatest served to to do that work. Meanwhile, they work alongside the medical biochemists who do the identical work, however get 8% extra as a result of any person in the 50s had a level from Trinity.

A 2001 professional report really useful pay parity for medical scientists. This was briefly applied, however was misplaced inside months in the primary public service benchmarking course of in June 2002, which evaluated the pay and jobs of public service roles. 

Simon Hogan, who works in the Irish Blood Transfusion Service, mentioned staff had been promised that pay parity could be restored however “it just never happened”. 

“We feel like we’re being ignored because the nature of our job is patient-orientated, there’s more of a moral obligation to work away,” he mentioned.

Other points that type a part of the dispute embrace entry to profession development alternatives and coaching in addition to an enlargement of the position main to an elevated workload.

Hospital disruption

Thousands of appointments and procedures have once more been cancelled at the moment as medical scientists strike.

The action entails the withdrawal of routine laboratory providers from 8am to 8pm on each days, affecting routine hospital and GP providers throughout the nation.

Tony Canavan, CEO of the Saolta Hospital Group, instructed RTÉ’s Morning Ireland that no less than 800 elective procedures can be cancelled in that hospital group alone.

A variety of derogation have been agreed with medical scientists and it will guarantee Emergency Department checks are nonetheless processed. Chemotherapy providers may even proceed on each days. 

However routine testing of inpatients won’t happen. 

“We have over 2,000 patients in hospital beds today,” he mentioned.

“There’ll be no routine testing on them. We rely on those tests to tell us if a patient is deteriorating and in the absence of that testing there is the risk that a patient will deterioration we won’t be able to respond to that quickly enough.”

If no progress is made an additional three days of action are deliberate for subsequent week on 31 May, 1 June and 2 June. In a poll of MLSA members final November 98% voted in favour of taking the action.

The strike was raised with Taoiseach Micheál Martin throughout Leaders’ Questions at the moment, the place he paid tribute to the medical scientists, stating they have been “instrumental” and “crucial” to the Government’s response to Covid-19. 

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Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty mentioned that the employees felt that nobody had listened to them for the previous 20 years that they’ve been elevating points. 

The Taoiseach inspired all events to work in the direction of getting the dispute resolved in the Work Relations Commission (WRC) or the Labour Court, stating these are the arenas that these points must be resolved.

Social Democrats co-leader Catherine Murphy mentioned the nation can not countenance one other three days of strike action subsequent week, stating that affected person security is being put in danger. 

Thousands of appointments have been cancelled, she mentioned. 

Medical scientists are the “hidden heroes” of the well being service, she added. 

The Taoiseach acknowledged the disruption the strike was having on the well being service, stating that nobody wished to see it, together with the employees on strike. 

– With reporting from Rónán Duffy from the picket exterior St James’ Hospital and Tadgh McNally

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