Cuts force loss of 300 hospital jobs

MORE than 300 hospital jobs are set to disappear in the latest blow to the health service.

The Mater Hospital is set to lose 163 positions and the Eastern Regional Health Authority also expects its 39 other healthcare providers to cut hundreds of jobs.

The latest cutbacks are due to strict employment ceilings which have been set by the Department of Health to keep hospitals within their budgets.

Yesterday, Irishhealth.com published an internal memo from Mater Hospital chief executive Martin Cowley warning staff of the job cuts.

It said: “In order to comply with the staff ceiling allocated by the Eastern Regional Health Authority, the hospital must now reduce the number of whole-time equivalent posts by 163.”

The Mater Hospital has emphasised it does not intend to ‘terminate or break’ any existing employment contracts in place with staff. Rather than staff being let go, vacancies will not be filled, it said.

“A busy teaching hospital would have a turnover of 300 staff each year. Over the course of the year, those vacancies will not be filled but if that is not sufficient, temporary contracts will cease to be renewed,” an Eastern Regional Health Authority spokeswoman said.

It is believed that portering, catering and paramedic jobs are the most likely to be cut.

Two weeks ago, the Mater announced it would have to close 250 beds due to a budget shortfall. It and the four other Dublin teaching hospitals in general will perform 14,000 less procedures. Hospitals in Cork and Kerry are also cutting procedures.

Fine Gael health spokeswoman Olivia Mitchell said the health service was disintegrating and called the job cuts “a short-term saving but a long-term folly”.

“No longer are we talking about the loss of agency workers, part-time workers, temporary or contract workers. Now the Mater is to suffer the irreversible loss of many of its expensively trained and experienced work force,” Ms Mitchell said.

The Labour Party said waiting lists would continue to grow because of a lack of staff to carry out procedures. Health spokeswoman Liz McManus said the Government was starving the hospitals of resources.

“It is now clear that other hospitals in the service will face similar job losses if the cutbacks are to continue. This is further concrete proof of the duplicitous promises that the level of services of last year would be maintained,” she said.

Green Party TD John Gormley said an overhaul of the health service was necessary as well as immediate funding for the Mater hospital.

“If Mícheál Martin cannot receive support from his Minister for Finance he should do the honourable thing and resign from Cabinet,” he said.

The Irish Patients Association (IPA) said the cuts would increase waiting lists even more, especially as staff would have to be rehired.