Nurses at Dublin's Beaumont Hospital have agreed to defer industrial action, which was due to begin next week.

Earlier this month, the nurses - all members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) - voted in favour of industrial action in response to ongoing overcrowding and understaffing in the hospital's Emergency Department (ED).

The action was to begin on January 27 in the form of a work to rule. This would have seen staff refusing to perform any non-clinical, clerical or administrative tasks and instead only engaging in direct care duties involving the provision of clinical care to patients.

However, the nurses have agreed to defer the action after agreement was reached at the Labour Relations Commission (LRC).

Management has agreed to increase staffing levels in the ED during the day and night, and it will continue to try to secure additional community beds to help tackle the problem of delayed discharges.

"This is a positive outcome for our members in Beaumont ED who have continued to struggle with unmanageable workloads on a daily basis due to persistent overcrowding and understaffing.

"We are pleased that management has agreed to increase staffing levels in the interest of providing a safe level of care to patients in the ED. All barriers to the recruitment of nurses must now be lifted," commented INMO industrial relations officer, Lorraine Monaghan.

However, the INMO has requested the ‘continued involvement' of the LRC ‘as this agreement will only last if management's proposals are implemented in a timely fashion'.