It's strike on for Caredoc in Carlow and Kilkenny

UPDATE (12:30pm, 18th Dec):

Team KCLR’s been at the Carlow Caredoc picket line too today.

UPDATE (10:30am, 18th Dec):

KCLR News’ Dermot Keyes stopped off at the Caredoc base in Kilkenny this morning to meet some of those involved in the action.

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He he brought some of those at the picket line on air on The KCLR Daily;

UPDATE (9:30am, 18th Dec):

Caredoc has issued the following advisory;

Caredoc Out-Of-Hours GP Services will close between Thursday 18 December at 6pm until 9am on Friday 19^th December 2025 due to industrial action.

Caredoc Out-of-Hours GP services and Caredoc Treatment Centres in the following counties will not operate during this time: Carlow, Kilkenny, South Tipperary, Waterford, Wexford & South Wicklow.

In the event of an emergency please call the 999 Ambulance service. Should you have an urgent medical need please attend your local hospital Emergency Department. Otherwise contact your own GP surgery number for further advice

Caredoc GP Out of Hours services will resume as normal at 6pm on Friday 19 December however further service interuptions are likely over the Christmas period – specifically Tuesday 23 December, Saturday 27 December, Monday 29 December, Tuesday 30 December and Friday 2 January. Please check our website for regular updates

We apologise to the public for the inconvenience and disruption caused by this action which is outside the control of Caredoc.

Visit the Caredoc website at www.caredoc.ie

UPDATE (8:10am, 18th Dec):

The HSE has issued the following statement this morning;

“The HSE remains concerned about the planned industrial action at Caredoc in the Southeast.

As communicated yesterday, the HSE has invited Caredoc back to mediation and this is scheduled to commence at 10am today, 18 December.

As is always the situation with planned industrial action the option to postpose strike action is available. The HSE would encourage Caredoc to engage with the Trade Unions to consider this option whilst mediation is in progress.”

Earlier story:

A 24 hour strike by Caredoc staff is underway.

It’s in a row over pay, with workers saying they haven’t received an 8% pay rise that was agreed in 2023.

The INMO and SIPTU say there’s been no meaningful engagement with the employer to avert the dispute.

Grainne Walsh from the INMO says there will be an unavoidable loss of services in 15 counties today – including Carlow and Kilkenny.

She notes; “I can’t tell you what the service is going to look like today because Caredoc as the employer they haven’t told us what kind of service they’re going to deliver but what I can say is our members aren’t there to take the calls or triage the calls this evening for Caredoc”.

Caredoc issued the following ahead of today’s action;

“Caredoc is calling on INMO and SIPTU unions to suspend on humanitarian grounds, their proposed strike action on out-of-hours GP services in the southeast and northwest and south Wicklow, due to happen this Thursday and Friday.

This 24-hour industrial action coincides with the busiest time of the year for Caredoc, which plays a vital role in maintaining a frontline health service for thousands of patients.

The current winter flu epidemic, expected to peak over the Christmas period, is proving particularly virulent this year as hospitals and GP services already struggle to provide adequate cover.

Caredoc therefore calls on the unions involved to call off the 24 hour one-day strike actions scheduled for both 18 December and Monday 23 December, as such action will only make an already deteriorating situation even worse, and put patients at risk.

For its part Caredoc, remains committed to intensive engagement with the HSE and to arriving at a fair result that can hopefully restore pay parity between all its staff members and HSE equivalents, as was the case up to 2021.

Caredoc will continue to make every effort to ensure the minimum possible impact on patients and their families, from the current dispute.”

While the HSE yesterday sent the following statement to KCLR News;

“Strike action has been threatened by Caredoc, a profit‑making company providing GP out‑of‑hours services in the South East.

The dispute arises because Caredoc has refused to pass on pay increases to its staff, despite receiving funding from the HSE for this purpose.

In March 2025, under the auspices of the WRC, the HSE provided additional funding to Caredoc, Southdoc and Shannondoc to maintain a sustainable workforce. Southdoc and Shannondoc passed on these increases to staff without issue; Caredoc has not.

Caredoc argues that paying staff would undermine its separate claim to be recognised as a Section 39 organisation.

GP out‑of‑hours services are provided under the GMS contract, not under Section 39 arrangements, and this distinction was accepted by unions at the WRC.

The Government and HSE have fully honoured their commitments: €647,000 was allocated to Caredoc South‑East and has already been paid over.

The most straightforward resolution of the threatened strike action is for Caredoc to immediately pass this funding to its employees, as agreed.

The HSE is proactively engaging with Caredoc through mediation, recognising the importance of services for patients in the South East.

Details of the mediation process are confidential, but a further significant offer has been made to support resolution. Industrial action is unnecessary and premature given that the HSE is actively working to resolve the matter.”