Jobs ban threatening services at Irish hospital, union says

A ban on recruitment in the health service is threatening the future of cancer services at St Luke's Hospital in Rathgar, according to Ireland's Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union. A third of the staff in the radiation therapy unit are on temporary fixed-term contracts which are due to come to an end in one month, and hospital management have given "no indication" these contracts will be renewed, according to the union. Union representatives said there was no way patient's needs could be met if a third of the staff in the radiation therapy unit were laid off.