Cancelled ops as NI hospitals prepare for week of industrial action
Appointments and procedures suspended
Last updated 2nd Dec 2019
Patients across Northern Ireland are bracing themselves for a week of potential chaos with the cancellation of tens of thousands of medical appointments and procedures.
It follows planned industrial action, starting tomorrow (Tuesday) by nurses
The Belfast Trust said it was “extremely sorry for the disruption and distress the impact of industrial action will have on our patients and their families.”
In a statement, it added: “Due to the impact of industrial action, Belfast Trust regrets to announce that during next week the following services will be cancelled and rebooked for a later date.”
Meanwhile, the Department of Health repeated its call for unions to call of the strikes and enter into conciliation talks.
“The Department’s offer of an independent conciliation process on this dispute stands,” a spokesperson said.
“As we have been saying for some time, we simply don't have the money or authority to resolve this impasse, and we strongly believe that patients should not be the ones to suffer because of that.
“The serious disruption to services this week is extremely distressing. For the reasons stated, avoiding this disruption is out of our hands. Like our Trust colleagues we would still wish to apologise to everyone affected.
“These decisions have regrettably been taken by Trusts on strictly operational grounds due to the level of disruption planned.”
Today all outpatient appointments, day case procedures and planned surgeries / planned admissions are postponed at the following hospitals
• Royal Victoria Hospital
• Children’s Hospital
• Royal Jubilee Maternity Hospital
• School of Dentistry
• Belfast City Hospital
• Mater Hospital
• Musgrave Park Hospital
The South Eastern Trust is also affected and in a statement it said it had been working on contingency plans to minimise disruption.
It said most services are operating normally and are asking patients if they have not been contacted to assume their appointments are going ahead as planned.
On Wednesday all routine Outpatient appointments have been cancelled, with the exception of Maternity and Children’s Services.
In a statement on Friday health trade unions said they there was no basis for a suspension of industrial action.
It said: “Employers and the Department have been fully informed as to what is required to resolve the current impasse.
“We have been talking for almost a year.”
In a statement, Pat Cullen, Director of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in Northern Ireland rejected the idea that its action had led to cancelled operations and it said its members will still be a work tomorrow.
"Nurses will be angry and disappointed to learn that as a result of announcing that they will work to their contract and focus upon direct patient care on Tuesday 3 December, that all outpatient appointments at the Belfast Trust have been cancelled," she said.
“Nurses will still be at work on Tuesday 3 December and at no stage has the Royal College of Nursing indicated that nursing staff will not look after patients, quite the reverse. We have made it clear in public advice to our members exactly what they can and cannot do when taking industrial action and we do not accept, on any level, that this should result in the cancellation, at such short notice, of all of these appointments on 3 December.
“The Department of Health and employers were notified of the dates that we intended to take industrial action and strike action on 13 November. The trust should have notified patients of their intention to cancel appointments well in advance of today.
“RCN members reject the idea that as a result of working according to their contract of employment and by focusing upon providing direct patient care that any outpatient appointment should be cancelled. Our members demand to know the exact rationale for such a radical decision to be taken, which will have such a devastating impact upon patients."