HSE director: Agency costs mean recruitment ban is not saving money

THE HSE’s head of human resources has finally admitted the controversial recruitment embargo is failing to save money because of the costs involved in filling chronic staffing gaps caused by the policy.

In a presentation to senior management in recent days the health service’s national director of human resources Seán McGrath formally acknowledged the long-denied fact when he said the HSE has “essentially swapped moratorium savings for agency workers”.

In recent months, the Irish Examiner has repeatedly highlighted how the recruitment ban is causing graduates to emigrate after being educated in Ireland and has resulted in a surge in expenditure on short-term agency workers to fill frontline gaps.

A growing number of these agency workers are people who would otherwise be employed as full- time public servants at specific hospitals.

In addition, it is leading to hefty overtime payments for doctors, nurses and administrators left with no option but to take on extra work.

While the issue has been acknowledged privately by some senior management, the HSE had stuck to the official line that the recruitment ban is saving money.

However, during his presentation Mr McGrath said this claim can no longer be made. Weekend reports noted that he said the situation is now “unsustainable” as the service had “essentially swapped savings for agency workers”.

He added that a much- vaunted HSE early retirement scheme introduced last year has not resulted in any savings for the taxpayer as most of the retirees were “low-paid support and administration staff”. “This has had the effect of making the pay base more expensive even where the head count is neutral,” he said.

Since 2007 the number of people working in the HSE has fallen by more than 5,000. But during the same four-year period the HSE’s overtime bill in major hospitals — which excludes the country’s 17 voluntary facilities — has been €241.6 million (2007), €248.2m (2008), €225.7m (2009) and approximately €200m last year.

This accounts for more than 70% of the more- than €1.1 billion HSE overtime bill since January 2005.

The cost of recruiting agency workers to fill staff positions left empty has also risen since the recruitment freeze.

While the HSE plans to cut between €30m and €40m off the figure this year, agency worker costs, excluding voluntary hospitals, have soared from €17.8m and €31.5m in 2005 and 2006 to €49.3m, €58.6m, €52.4m and €76.8m in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010.

The HSE also spent €26m on locum doctors to fill chronic staff shortages across public hospitals in the first half of this year.

This is the equivalent of appointing 300 consultants, a move which would increase the specialist doctor workforce by 12% and help to reduce waiting list delays.

Mr McGrath’s presentation was obtained by Galway East Labour TD Colm Keaveney, who said the situation is “simply covering up a crack” instead of addressing the deeper problems.

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