Medical Laboratory Scientists Association (MLSA) to go on multiple days of strikes

I don't understand how this can be interpreted as selfish. It sounds like they're being treayed badly and have made other efforts to resolve their grievances.

In hospital laboratories there are different departments such as Microbiology, Haematology, Blood transfusion, Histopathology and Biochemistry etc.

Some hospitals have other specialist departments like Temple Street has a metabolic lab, Crumlin has cytogenetics, Beaumont have a toxicology and transplant lab. The IBTS is on the grounds of St James. All of these labs are staffed with medical scientists.

Biochemists can only work in Biochemistry departments. They carry out the same job as medical scientists in the same dept but are paid more, have more career advancement opportunities, and can earn extra money working on call at nights and weekends. Many hospitals don't even have any Biochemists.

Medical Scientists are looking for equal pay for equal work. This was promised over 20 years ago and not delivered.

And what? Most jobs that have a heavy regulatory protocol would have increased in workload due to better understanding of risk factors involved through time. Quite often leads to more checks and balances to undertake more work.

Looking for equality for a role that's rather specialist seems counter-intuitive. Like What's to stop Laboratory Scientists to apply for Biochemists role if available. Your description doesn't make them look the same at all.

I would also clarify that medical scientists can be employed as Biochemists. Biochemists cannot be medical scientists.

If you don't have medical scientists, you don't have a pathology department. The hospitals and healthcare grinds to a halt.

Emergency services were provided today and a list of derogations negotiated prior to day to ensure patient safety. Laboratories were still staffed.

So you can rest assured medical scientists were not prepared to let anyone die.

This isn't a demand looking for a pay raise for the sake of it. This is asking for what was promised in 2001 and never delivered.

The profession is at a serious risk of falling apart due to losing staff and the healthcare of the nation would go with it.

Biochemist salary starts at 37,307

Medical scientists start on 34,420

A lab aide (only requires leaving cert and are supervised by med labs) starts on 34,511.

New graduates often start as lab aides until they get a job as a medical scientist.

That means they take a pay CUT to start working in the job they qualified for.

If you take 2 people who finished school, one starts as a lab aide and one goes to college to do the degree, it takes 11 years for the medical scientist to make more than a lab aide.

Yes there are. And I don't mean to negate that. They do a lot of work and the lab wouldn't function without them either.

Some lab aides in our hospital have degrees and some have clerical backgrounds.

Medical scientist contracts are 37 hours. On call is "voluntary" but in departments that are short staffed, on call is more or less mandatory because someone has to do it. On call is also not part of the contracted week. Working a weekend day or night doesn't count towards the 37 hours.

I don't want this to seem like pay is the only issue here. The biggest problem is the chronic staff shortages.

People in this thread have said sure go get a job that pays more. That's exactly what graduates are doing.

Ireland can't have he diagnostic side of healthcare fall apart. It will lead to more cancelled appointments, curtailed GP testing and delayed diagnoses. We've seen the impact outsourcing cervical check has had. Imagine that happening to all areas of healthcare.

Yes. They work 37 hours at the moment. But only 35 of those are been paid for. There is two hours of Haddington road. And from 1st July, it will go down to working 35 hours.

I know its not all about pay. There are so many vacant MS posts. A lot of people who graduate with a Biomed degree go into industry and some go on to med school.

If there were other ways to train to be a medical scientist that would help get more scientists.

What do you mean most. Where's the proof of that. A lot of people remain as basic grades. Particularly now.

20% of posts are vacant. Not just at entry level. It's becoming harder to fill senior and chief posts. What's the incentive to seek promotion and take on more responsibilities for a short staffed dept.

Another one of the strike issues is career progression. You can't become a senior unless a post opens up due to someone leaving or retirement. In smaller hospitals, this can take many years. Theres a ceiling on people's potential. Whereas Biochemists can gain promotion up to consultant.

In the UK medical scientists can study and train in their area of expertise right up to consultant. They're able to make great advances in diagnostics and laboratory medicine.

What are you on about. I made no dig at cervical cancer patients. My point was that the government cannot afford to outsource more laboratory testing to private companies as it will have huge impacts on other aspects of healthcare. Ireland has no control over the policies and procedures international private labs.

The government were warned extensively about the dangers that would arise from outsourcing cervical check back in 2008, and the government went ahead and did it anyway.