Report: Jobs freeze could cripple HSE

THE staffing crisis which has been seriously hampering the delivery of mental health services could cripple the wider health services early next year, it has been warned.

The effect of the recruitment freeze is beginning to seriously impact all grades of staff across the service — even those which had been exempted from the ban — and proposals to offset costs of agency staff to fill the gaps would require a change in government policy, according to documents obtained under the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act.

“Across the spectrum, people will be leaving the services and the crisis hitting the mental health services is going to be across the board,” said a senior source within the HSE.

“There is going to be a serious stampede out of the services and there is a crisis looming early in the new year because of the moratorium.

“At the moment it’s in mental health, but this could be any sector, and what’s going on in mental health is demonstrating what could happen in any area of the health services.”

FoI documents reveal the recruitment freeze means millions are being paid out in agency staff and overtime when recruiting staff would be more cost effective.

Responding to proposals by the head of mental health services in the HSE, HR assistant national director Frank O’Leary wrote: “While nursing overtime expenditure is down, it has been offset by increased reliance on agency nursing. Proposals to reduces cost and use of agency and overtime requires a change in government policy on public service numbers. Present policy is a barrier to such proposals.”

As part of monthly commitments under the EU/IMF deal, the HSE must provide a headline employment figure to the Departments of Finance and Health to ensure compliance with the employment control framework.

In his end of August report to HSE boss Cathal Magee, Mr O’Leary warned “the recruitment pause has impacted on exempted grades where reductions were seen for the first time across all of these grades”.

Exempted grades include speech and language and occupational therapists; psychologists; social workers; and medical consultants. He said the health sector was 1,491 posts “below ceiling” or target reductions. Of 300 social workers to be hired over three years, only 21% had been, while just 18 of 230 psychologists and counsellors had been hired.

Mr O’Leary reported all staff categories other than dental/medical decreased in August, and that employment levels in management and administration areas were below levels recorded at the establishment of the HSE in 2005.

Nursing was reported to be 1,926 posts below levels at the end of 2008.

At the end of August 104,511 people were working across the HSE and voluntary bodies. The target under the employment control framework is to reduce that to 100,861 by 2014.