6,000 Irish psychiatric nurses begin their industrial action today

The strike is said to not affect child or adolescent mental health services.

Approximately 6,000 members of the Psychiatric Nurses' Association will began their overtime ban from 7am today (Thursday 11 July) in an escalation of their dispute with the Health Service Executive. Their union stated that there had been a lack of progress with the HSE in what they claim are ongoing and worsening staff shortages, and in response, are refusing to work any overtime. Earlier this week, Minister for Health Simon Harris described the overtime ban as disappointing, given that both sides were still engaged in conciliation efforts at the Workplace Relations Commission, while the HSE have stated that the action will have a negative impact on the delivery of care to patients. The Psychiatric Nurses' Association union state that they have been attempting to resolve the situation since February, but that not enough has been done to counter the staff recruitment and retention issues. The HSE have stated that they are assessing the situation on a service-by-service basis.