Audit warns thousands of unsuitable workers may have permanent health service jobs

The audit’s findings mean the HSE had no record as to whether the majority of new employees had performed satisfactorily before their probation period had expired.

The HSE failed to adequately assess and record the performance of new recruits during probationary periods means potentially thousands of unsuitable workers are getting permanent jobs in the health service, an internal audit has warned.

A report by HSE auditors found only 1,320 out of 4,695 new employees hired by the HSE in the greater Dublin region had a probation record – the equivalent of almost three in every 10 new staff.

It said the audit’s findings meant the HSE had no record as to whether the majority of new employees had performed satisfactorily before their probation period had expired.

The audit found there was no monitoring by the HSE’s human resources division to see if line managers were properly assessing staff during their probation before appointing them to a permanent job. It also found that no guidance was provided by the HSE outlining the importance of the probation process.

“Where no guidance is provided and no monitoring occurs by the HSE’s HR function, employees may be appointed to permanent positions without a formal evaluation process,” it observed.

The audit report found that the level of assurance that there is adequate monitoring of probation controls by HR staff was “unsatisfactory.”  

Most new employees recruited to the HSE are subject to a probationary period of 12 months. The audit noted that a new entrant’s performance should be fully evaluated during this period to ensure the correct decision is made on whether they should be made a permanent member of HSE staff.

The report said it would be expected that the HSE’s HR division would provide a central oversight and monitoring framework of probation controls, even though line managers had responsibility for evaluating new staff during their probationary period. However, it claimed there was no central framework or monitoring of probation controls.

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HSE auditors found that the HR division does not notify line managers when probationary periods are due to expire and fails to contact them when no probation records have been returned.

The audit report, which was released under freedom of information legislation, highlighted how probation is not recorded on the HSE’s national payroll and records system.

The auditors were also unable to establish how many HSE employees were let go at the end of their probationary period because such information is not captured on its records system.

HR management told auditors that the practice of notifying line managers when the probation periods of new staff were due to end, and sending them a related form to be completed, had ceased in 2018.

It was claimed the reason for discontinuing such a practice was due to the relatively small number of returns and the “GDPR risk” that the notifications would not be sent to the correct line manager.

Recommendations

The HSE said it had agreed with and implemented five recommendations contained in the audit report to address high-risk issues that required immediate action.

They include reminding local HR managers to evaluate the performance of new entrants during the probationary period so that the right decision is made on whether they should be made permanent in the HSE as well as underlining the importance of maintaining records on probation.

The auditors also recommended that it should be explored to see if its payroll system could be configured to notify all HSE line managers when probation periods are due to expire and when no probation records have been returned.