5,000 HSE staff out sick on any given day

MORE than 5,000 HSE staff are out sick every day, with management saying the absenteeism rate is “too high”.

Amid claims that it was too easy for workers in the public service to phone in sick, it has emerged the number of average days lost in the health service is twice that of the private sector.

The HSE, which employs more than 100,000 people nationally, said that on any one day 5% of staff are off sick. This compares to 2.5% in the private sector.

The sick bill for the HSE West is €5 million a month and it could be as high as €20m nationally. A meeting of the HSE West, which covers Limerick to Donegal, was told by Liam Minihan, assistant national director for finance, yesterday that 1,100 staff in the region are out sick daily.

The chairman of the HSE West, Padraig Conneely (FG) said: “We must have very sick people in the HSE. I thought the sick people were in the hospitals, in the beds, but obviously, they are not. It is the people outside the hospitals, the workers, who are very sick.

“It is not acceptable and costing €5m per month. It is obviously too easy in the public service to call in sick. I don’t think the private service would tolerate 1,100 people out sick each day.

“The common cold must be very common with people in the HSE. Is it a Monday or a Friday where the absenteeism rates are the highest?

“I think these people would get the door very quickly in the private sector. I think it is a poor reflection on this public service.

“I can’t accept for one moment that 1,100 can be out genuinely sick. Something has to be done about absenteeism and the €5m it is costing per month.”

HSE West member Cllr Brian Meaney said the figure was “astonishing”.

“I would like to know the reasons for such a high rate and how many of the people out sick are genuine. If this was occurring in a private company it would have gone under years ago.”

John Hennessy, the HSE’s regional director of operations in the West, said the absenteeism rate “is too high” but people had “statutory entitlements”. He said a comprehensive absenteeism management programme was under way.

HSE West employs 22,000 permanent staff. He said 5% are out sick at any one time.

“Half of that are from frontline services where there is pressure to replace and cost is a factor. The rate is too high and we intend to bring it down.”

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation industrial organiser for the West, Regina Durcan, said “there is a problem” with absenteeism in the HSE.

“It is a multi-factoral problem and a breakdown of what staff and where the absenteeism is occurring would be significant.”

She said the HSE could also learn lessons from the private sector in dealing with absenteeism in terms of providing support, back to work programmes and counselling for staff.

“Conditions for staff in the emergency departments are deplorable and there is no cover for sick leave, which is adding to the stress of staff.”