Tomorrow's demonstration will take place outside UHG between 1pm and 2pm. Only off-duty hospital staff will be attending the rally so patient care will not be affected.

According to Noreen Muldoon, Industrial Relations Officer with the Irish Nurses Organisation, the protest is in opposition to the recruitment embargo imposed by the HSE and the general cutback of services in recent times. She said she expects hundreds of nurses and patients to turn out for tomorrow's rally and express their feelings of frustration to the HSE.

"This rally is open to all unions and members of the public who are dissatisfied with the current state of the health service. We would hope that by sending out such a strong message to the HSE, we can persuade them to lift the recruitment embargo and employ the front line staff that are needed. Almost every department of the hospital is under-staffed and, of course, patient care is suffering as a result. There is no maternity cover, no holiday cover and the same amount of patients have to be looked after. It is so important for the sake of our nurses and the patients in these hospitals that these vacancies are filled."

While tomorrow's demonstration does not form part of industrial action, UHG may be hit by further strikes next month. Over 30,000 IMPACT trade union members voted overwhelmingly to take action over the recruitment embargo, which they say is having a devastating effect on health services. Workers will refuse to engage in non-emergency overtime and out-of-hours work, or to cover posts effected by the recruitment freeze between 21 and 28 May.

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