Thousands of healthcare workers have voted for industrial action in protest at staffing levels across the HSE, writes Sophie Carlin.

Up to 80,000 nurses, midwives and administration staff are set to take industrial action, up to and including strikes, in the new year after ballots by leading unions the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, Unite and Fórsa.

They say the HSE Pay and Numbers strategy has left workforce numbers frozen since 2023, creating safety issues for patients.

Members of Unite working for the HSE “voted overwhelmingly” for industrial action, the union said yesterday.

INMO members voted 95.6% in favour, while Fórsa staff voted 93.6% in favour of industrial action.

An INMO spokesperson confirmed: “Members voted for industrial action up to and including strike action.”

Other healthcare unions, such as those representing medical lab scientists, are still balloting.

But if they also vote in favour, it could lead to up to 80,000 healthcare workers taking industrial action across various unions, the spokesperson said.

More than 150,000 people work in the HSE in total, meaning half of its workforce could be involved in industrial action.

In Fórsa alone, approximately 22,000 members in the HSE services were balloted, a union source said.

The INMO spokesperson explained that once all balloting is complete, healthcare unions will “come together to decide on a united approach”.

Unions need to serve employers three weeks’ notice of industrial action according to legislation.

They also want to wait until the new government is in place to see how it tackles the staffing and trolley crises, the spokesperson added.

The votes are taking place in reaction to the HSE suppressing some vacant posts and not filling others.

The HSE’s Pay and Numbers Strategy, published in July this year, got rid of thousands of posts.

It capped the number of HSE employees at the December 2023 figures because of funding concerns, meaning vacant positions that had been advertised but were not filled at that point were abolished.

This has caused “the staffing crisis” Unite said.

Fórsa and Unite agree current pressure on HSE services is set to worsen as demand rises in winter.

Unite regional officer Eoin Drummey said: “Unions have exhausted all available avenues to resolve this dispute.”

He warned HSE management “only has a short window” to stop action by scrapping the “discredited” strategy and “instead negotiate a safe staffing framework in the interests of workers and patients”.

Health unions have engaged in lunchtime protests at hospitals nationwide in recent weeks.

A protest takes place today at St Vincent’s Hospital, Dublin.

Fórsa said the impact of July’s strategy is that “existing health staff are forced to cope with an insufficient complement of staff in most departments”.

This is damaging community, acute and mental health services and provisions for older people, the union said.

It is causing waiting lists to keep growing and impacting staff morale as they struggle to deliver services, the head of the union’s Health and Welfare Division Ashley Connolly said.

She said members “cannot operate indefinitely in circumstances where demand outstrips capacity”.

INMO president Caroline Gourley said: “Nurses and midwives are no longer willing to accept pausing the hiring of safety critical staff in a weak attempt to balance the books.”

When contacted for comment, the HSE said: “The HSE awaits the outcome of the ongoing ballots and should there be a mandate for industrial action, we will consider this matter in the context of the Public Service Agreement.”