The Commission had used wage pause money to employ staff for cleaning, administration and other duties on 12 month contracts, but the funding had recently finished.

Now, backed by the Hospital Employees' Federation, nurses were refusing to take up the extra work load.

The HEF was in the process of determining its next steps after a series of unsatisfactory meetings with the Commission.

Overtime was also banned, as was handling patient cash and the collection of statistics.

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