People will die if strike action by nurses and midwives is not resolved, according to a Cork GP whose father had two cancer scans cancelled due to the dispute.
Dr Doireann O'Leary said she is really concerned as "cries for help" from doctors, nurses and patients "are going unheard" by the Government.
Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Sean O'Rourke, Dr O'Leary said her 74-year-old father was admitted to hospital at Christmas with pneumonia on his left lung.
During his time in hospital a chest X-ray revealed abnormalities and doctors arranged a follow-up scan to take place on Wednesday, 30 January.
However, that scan coincided with the first day of strikes by members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation and so was rescheduled for Tuesday, 5 February.
Dr O'Leary said that when she phoned her mother on Tuesday morning to wish them good luck with the scan, she was informed it had been cancelled again.
At that point, she arranged a scan through a private healthcare provider in Cork. That scan on Wednesday confirmed suspicions that her father had lung cancer.
He was admitted to Cork University Hospital where a camera assessment was needed, but assessments due to take place on Thursday also fell victim to the strike.
Due to the nature of his condition, an assessment has been arranged to take place at the Mercy Hospital today.
Dr O'Leary said the entire situation highlights the impact of the strike on patients.
"My dad was added into an already full list" for camera assessments in the Mercy Hospital, she said.
"Going into next week with three days of strikes, there is only so much reshuffling you can do. We are totally being pushed to capacity."
"I'm really concerned," she said. "I do believe people will die as a result of this."
She said that if his daughter was not a doctor, her father could still be "sitting at home actively dying of lung cancer".
"That is not hyperbole, that is the fact of the matter," she said.
"I'm so worried and so upset for the people who are suffering as a result of this and maybe don't even know, and don't know where to turn."
Having worked as a junior doctor in Irish hospitals, Dr O'Leary said she fully empathised with the situation facing nurses.
"The conditions are appalling, the nurses are absolutely right in what they are saying.
"The nurse-to-patient ratio on wards is at very unsafe levels at times. What nurses put up with in hospitals is extraordinarily stressful and I think the Government don't seem to be listening to workers on the ground or taking us seriously," Dr O'Leary said.
"GPs are protesting as well, and you just feel all of our cries for help are going a bit unheard."
