Nurses and other healthcare workers are to hold a protest outside University Hospital Kerry later today.
Staff shortages and unfilled vacancies across both sectors are at the centre of the protest, with staff concerned about ongoing overcrowding at the hospital.
The Irish Nurses' and Midwives' Organisation has expressed concerns about members in UHK being forced to work short staffed, due to over thirty nursing and midwifery vacancies on the Tralee campus.
INMO members will protest against these conditions at the hospital this afternoon at 12.30 pm.
The union's industrial relations officer Liam Conway says there's significant interest in nursing and midwifery posts in UHK, with many candidates waiting to be offered positions.
He claims the vacancies are there, but the local directors of nursing and midwifery have no authority to recruit to fully implement the Safe Staffing Framework, fill posts when staff go on maternity leave, or fill key nursing and midwifery management posts.
Mr Conway also says nurses and midwives in the hospital are extremely concerned about what is in store for them this winter, due to the vacancies.
Meanwhile, Fórsa trade union members are also protesting today about the lack of filling of vacancies at the hospital.
The union - which had been critical of the HSE staff embargo - says although the embargo was lifted, the HSE’s ‘pay and numbers’ strategy means thousands of previously sanctioned posts were scrapped at the end of 2023.
These are posts that would have played a key role in meeting service demand in the busy winter months, and posts that would have played an active role in reducing waiting times for medical appointments.
Karen Condon left her position as a medical secretary due to the embargo and will be part of today's protest:
Today's protest in Tralee follows similar protests in recent weeks at hospitals in Cavan, Cork, Dublin, Galway, Kildare, Kilkenny, Mayo, Offaly and Sligo, while more protests are to take place in the coming weeks.
