HSE chiefs criticised over hospital staffing policies
Speaking at the latest meeting of the political health body, Labour councillor Catherine Clancy said it is vital the policies are changed as they put huge pressure on existing workers and services.
Ms Clancy, who has been replaced as chair by Fine Gael councillor Liam Ahearn, said the way the embargo is currently used is “ill thought-out”.
She said one example was the use of the policy — which includes the barring of maternity leave cover — in services with a high-female staff level.
Cllr Clancy said that despite the known difficulties with the policies and impact on both patients and staff, she knew of units in some of Munster’s largest hospitals which are consistently manned by agency workers.
Hitting out at the “enormously more expensive” use of this policy, which she will raise with her party and coalition colleagues in Government, Ms Clancy said “no private company” would consider the plan effective.
The comments were echoed in a formal question by Fianna Fáil councillor John Coonan, a qualified psychiatric nurse, who urged senior HSE managers present at the meeting to reconsider the policies — particularly in the nursing speciality.
Responding to concerns over the lack of jobs due to the recruitment embargo, staff budget cutbacks and the use of agency workers, HSE South regional director of operations, Pat Healy, said “We have only the money we have and the [staff] ceiling we have”.
His colleague Barry O’Brien, HSE assistant national director of human resources, added that if the councillors present felt this concerned about the matter they should use all their “good influence” to help the system “recruit all the nurses we need”.
By the end of this year HSE South management estimates that there will be more than 1,000 less staff working in the region’s health service than at the start of January 2010.
