HSE tried to block article on how staff saved money
Two years ago, Damien Kidd became frustrated with a system which saw €1m spent annually on new equipment in the Kildare and west Wicklow area even though perfectly recyclable equipment was lying idle in attics and back gardens.
“The old system required us to place orders through the purchasing system and private companies would supply the equipment,” he told trade union IMPACT’s membership magazine Work and Life. “The invoices were always very high and I felt strongly that we needed to change how we did things. In the boom years companies would take weeks to come back to you, and that added to the waiting time for clients. It was wasteful and inefficient.”
He said suppliers could charge whatever they liked for delivery, repairs or replacements.
Mr Kidd had heard of a more self-contained system in Mountmellick, where they bought their own equipment and handled distribution with their own vehicle and their own staff.
He decided to develop the idea in his own region with the help of colleague Stella Griffin.
In its first year, the recovery scheme achieved a net saving to the local HSE of €1.3 million. In the following year the scheme saved a further €1 million.
Almost immediately the waiting lists dropped as the service was able to respond more immediately to clients. The time between assessment and delivery of equipment was slashed and the average waiting list of 600 for the area was reduced to almost zero.
Mr Kidd said at its height, the monthly operational budget was €177,000. In the following months it has gone through some fluctuations, even hitting zero at one point and currently stands at around €50,000 a month.
“But we are delivering and sustaining an improved service with that budget,” he pointed out.
When his trade union made it clear it wanted to publish an article on Mr Kidd’s efforts, it received correspondence from the local management of the HSE saying they objected because it gave undue credit to Mr Kidd for the scheme.
However, the union said contrary to their assertion the article explained his colleagues helped implement the scheme but that it was his idea. The union was not surprised, it said, given the reaction of the HSE to how the scheme had worked.
Stella Griffin said senior HSE figures had not been thrilled when the scale of the savings emerged.
“There was a degree of embarrassment in the response from management,” she said. “I suppose it demonstrated the waste in the system that had gone on for years before Damien proposed the changes.”
