Disruption at Mayo University Hospital due to industrial action by lab scientists

THE HSE is warning of significant disruption and service delays in hospitals, including Mayo University Hospital, this Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. due to the planned Industrial Action by the Medical Laboratory Scientists Association (MLSA).

This will lead to the cancellation of many inpatient and day case elective procedures and hospital outpatient appointments across the country.

All routine GP testing services will be suspended on the day. Some limited services will continue but there will be wide scale disruption to patients.

In a statement, the HSE said emergency departments are already experiencing the knock-on effect of the action today as GPs could not send routine lab tests to hospitals and instead have had to refer patients directly to emergency departments. This is leading to delays for patients with non-urgent care needs and delays are expected to continue tomorrow.

The HSE is continuing to seek further derogations relating to patients in hospitals on Wednesday and for priority scopes.

Emergency departments will continue as always to prioritise the treatment of the sickest and most urgent patients.

The statement continued: “Since yesterday hospitals have been contacting patients directly to cancel appointments. As this is a developing situation we would ask patients not to phone hospitals at this time. Hospitals will provide further clarity and details as soon as possible and information from all hospitals is available on hse.ie/disruptions.

“While efforts are continuing to try to avert this action, the HSE is working with the MLSA to ensure arrangements are in place tomorrow for the provision of a limited range of services safely.

“Appointments and procedures disrupted by the strikes will be rescheduled as soon as possible.”

Information on all hospitals is available here: https://www2.hse.ie/services/health-service-disruptions/appointment-updates.html.