HSE staff overtime costs €400m in two years

OVERTIME payouts to HSE staff cost the taxpayer more than €400 million in just two years, figures obtained by the Irish Examiner can reveal.

In both 2007 and 2008, the overtime bill came in at more than €219m, and despite a cut in employee numbers, overall, HSE staff costs increased by 6.5% last year. The figures also show more than 20 hospital registrars earned over €100,000 in 2008 in overtime, with the top sum of €156,688 going to a registrar at Roscommon Hospital.

Other top earners were:

* Specialist registrar at Naas Hospital €145,136.18.

* Registrar in the mid-west €120,400.20.

* Registrar at Midlands Regional Hospital Tullamore €118,459.78.

* Registrar at Cavan General Hospital €113,781.44.

Closer analysis of overtime pay in 2007 and 2008 shows that the number of people earning more than €100,000 increased year on year, as did the amounts awarded.

According to the HSE, the ability to reduce high overtime earnings is limited, as anything beyond a core 39-hour working week is paid at overtime rates.

Plans to reform the health service suffered a major setback earlier this year after the Irish Medical Organisation and seven junior doctors were granted permission to challenge the HSE, which planned to cut more than €40m in pay and benefits for nearly 5,000junior doctors.

The matter was the subject of a High Court Case and is before the Labour Court at present.

Labour’s spokesperson for health Jan O’Sullivan said situations could become dangerous if they were not monitored. “Obviously doctors are working far too long hours. I would be worried for doctors and patients and for everyone’s sake, the situation needs to be very carefully monitored.”

She said with the HSE recruitment moratorium in place, it was going to be very difficult to move from the old regime.

“People on maternity leave and holiday leave are not being replaced, and even when there is approval for a position to be filled it seems to be taking a long time.”

The HSE needs to reduce health workers’ hours to an average of 48 hours a week to comply with the EU directive on working time, which comes into effect in August. But Ms O’Sullivan said she could not see it being implemented.

A HSE spokesperson said management had sought to reduce hours through changes in work practices, including expansion of cross cover, reduction in tiers of call and other initiatives.

But, the spokesperson said, the nature of medical training and a requirement to be exposed to sufficient numbers of complex cases restricts the HSE’s capacity to increase non-consultant doctors’ numbers and to reduce individual hours.