Recruitment embargo ‘risks safe hospital care’

The HSE’s recruitment suspension at a time when hospitals are already suffering a manpower crisis will make it impossible to deliver safe care, unions have warned.

The Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) said the move was a “hammer blow” to efforts to tackle serious staffing shortages in hospitals.

IMO president John Duddy said there were 300 vacant consultant posts and newly qualified doctors were emigrating rather than opting to work in the Irish health service.

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) said they were already dealing with a shortfall of over 3,600 nurses and midwives and the embargo would make “an intolerable situation utterly impossible”.

David Hughes, INMO deputy general secretary, said it was “simply not possible to deliver safe care with such an embargo in place”

Mr Duddy, meanwhile, said there was already “unprecedented difficulty in encouraging doctors to work in our public health service”.

“In these circumstances it is ironic that the message from the HSE is ‘don’t bother to apply’,” he said.

Mr Hughes said the INMO was calling on Health Minister Simon Harris “to immediately intervene” and reverse the ban.

Last night, the minister said the HSE had put interim recruitment measures in place which require that pay budgets are complied with.

“These measures do not impact on a hospital’s ability to recruit where funding exists to facilitate that recruitment, for example in the case of replacement posts or where funding has been allocated for particular roles under the HSE service plan or in areas of critical care, “ he said.

The IMO said Ireland already operated well below the OECD average for number of physicians per head of population with 2.82 physicians per 1,000 population. The OECD average is 3.3. The Irish ratio is the lowest in Western Europe.

The HSE say the “pause” on recruitment is pending agreement and approval of a workforce plan for each of the hospital groups before any further additions to payroll, according to the HSE.

HSE figures for February show acute hospitals were already running €48m over budget. In its January/February performance report the HSE said it had escalated pay control in acute hospitals to “level 4” which means beyond critical and the director general can intervene.