3,800 taken on despite staff ban

HEALTH boards took on 3,800 too many staff in one year in an open flouting of recruitment bans laid down by the Department of Health.

Pay and pay-related expenditure is the biggest cost in the Department of Health’s budget, yet the Comptroller and Auditor General’s latest reports showed huge deficiencies in the controlling and monitoring of staff numbers.

An analysis of the staff employed in the health sector at the end of 2001 showed that 3,800 extra staff had been hired in direct opposition to department guidelines.

Another section of his health audits, published yesterday, showed that health expenditure had risen by 169% between 1997 and 2002, with the pay bill soaring by 154%.

The C&AG report detected a lack of reliable information on the numbers employed in the health sector; time lags in collecting and collating employment data, and a culture of approving new services without necessary authorisation for additional staff.

During the audit, the health boards defended their actions by saying that it was still possible to exceed the employment ceiling and remain within budget.

They also claimed that sticking rigidly to the prescribed employment levels can result in bad value-for-money decisions.

“Human resources may sometimes be managed more effectively by restricting overtime rather than job numbers. The application of a strict ceiling prevents this kind of initiative,” they told the CAG.

According to the health boards, increased patient numbers, unawareness of the full employment impact of new services and a lack of investment in human resources, led to their decisions to break the specified employee limit.

A new €130 million computerised personnel system will address some of these issues, according to the Department of Health accounting officer.

The roll-out of the system will cost a further €100 million which, he said, “shows a very significant commitment on behalf of the health services towards addressing this information deficit.”

A Working Group on Employment Methodology has also drafted an interim report on the methodology for determining the correct staffing needs of health agencies. Discussions with the Department of Finance are taking place on funding its recommendations.