Senior nursing and midwifery managers to start work‑to‑rule on 29 September

Senior nurse and midwifery managers, together with their linked grades, will begin a work‑to‑rule on 29 September over the failure to implement modernised pay and grading proposals.

The industrial action involves about 3,500 directors, assistant directors, advanced practitioners and tutors across psychiatry, community services, public health, maternity, paediatrics, general hospitals, long‑term care and palliative care. They are represented by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO), the Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA) and SIPTU.

The dispute centres on an outdated banding system for senior nursing and midwifery managers that has been flagged since a 2018 Public Service Commission report. After a 2019 nursing and midwifery dispute, the Labour Court recommended an Expert Review Body, which advised replacing the 1999‑based hospital banding with a new grading approach reflecting Sláintecare reforms.

Although the Department of Health set out a new structure in February 2025, more than 18 months later it remains unimplemented. INMO Deputy General Secretary Edward Mathews said managers have waited years for resolution and now face expanded responsibilities without corresponding authority to recruit staff.

PNA Deputy General Secretary Michael Hayes added that the pay model does not reflect the scale and complexity of modern mental health services. SIPTU Health Sector Organiser Damien Ginley called the continued delays “unacceptable” and urged full implementation of the expert review recommendations.

Source: Dublin People. Photo: Oles kanebckuu / Pexels.