HSE lacking in details on ill health retirement plans

Of the 23 cases examined, no occupational health information was held for 12 of them on the employee’s pension file.

The HSE holds no information in more than 50% of cases on what grounds its employees have been granted early retirement due to ill health, according to an audit of sample cases.

The internal audit report, compiled in December of last year and seen by the Irish Examiner, dealt with 23 sample cases selected at random from the 309 HSE workers who took early retirement due to illness in 2021.

The audit’s objective had been to determine the level of assurance with which the HSE could be provided that its ill health retirement schemes were being managed appropriately.

The 309 HSE staff members who retired on the grounds of ill health in 2021 represented roughly 10% of the overall number of retirements from the service over that 12-month period.

Of the 23 cases examined, no occupational health information was held for 12 of them on the employee’s pension file.

Since data on ill health is not collated by the health service, the audit found that the HSE is “unable to identify” the factors contributing to ill health retirements.

Some of the conditions that were noted meanwhile include anxiety, advanced cancer, morbid obesity, and, in one case, “symptoms ongoing... unpredictable and disabling” with no further detail given.

In the documentation provided to the HSE’s superannuation schemes, no indication was given as to whether or not alternatives to retirement had been considered for the workers in question.

The audit found that “there is a general lack of accessible information on the conditions and benefits for ill health retirement” specified in the HSE’s pension schemes.

The audit made two findings, both of which were ranked at the highest level of systemic risk for the HSE’s processes.

It said that the HSE must implement a new system to “interpret and manage data on ill health retirements” to ensure that “risk factors... are identified and mitigated” for both staff and the employer.

It further stated that the HSE should develop standard procedures for employees on the conditions of the ill health retirement schemes, and for management regarding its role and responsibilities for administering the schemes. Both recommendations were accepted by the HSE’s director of human resources.