Hospital staff 'deeply concerned' HSE hiring freeze could impact patient safety

Recruitment freeze could 'derail' Cork University Hospital's work to improve recruitment, INMO says. Picture: Dan Linehan

Another pause in HSE recruitment plans across regions including Cork and Kerry has raised fears among staff about patient safety.

It follows plans to review spending on hiring, including on agency staff for non-frontline roles, meaning clerical and administrative jobs.

The plans include controls on spending to rein in a record €250m deficit for the first three months of the year across the HSE nationally. 

Regional executive officers have been working with their teams to cut spending since the end of April, internal memos show. 

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) has been in touch with HSE South-West to find out if this could pose a threat to nurse recruitment at hospitals, including Cork University Hospital.

It sought assurances about frontline posts, but details could not be provided, the INMO said.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner during the INMO annual conference, industrial relations officer Liam Conway said he was “deeply concerned” patients could be affected. 

CUH has worked to improve recruitment over the last year, he said, but this could now “derail" it.

“What we see is that it takes at least 12 months to recover from any kind of pause in recruitment.” 

The Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) also raised concerns.

IMO president Professor Matthew Sadlier described the plans as “very disappointing”, saying “funding and staff numbers were already far below what they need to be to deliver an optimal health system".

“It is clear to anyone working in the system that it cannot run effectively within the budget that has been set, and hence it beggars belief that spending and recruitment will be further curtailed in order to make this numbers game add up.”

He called for doctors' roles to be protected, warning patients "will see poorer outcomes as a result of these measures".

A HSE spokesman said the €250m budget overspend was driven primarily by "sustained overspending on pay including overtime, agency staff and other non-pay expenditure".

He added: "This is a serious position, and one we can and must address through the year."

He said HSE chief executive Anne O' Connor now intends to focus on recruitment and agency spending among other areas.

In relation to medical care, he said: "Decisions affecting clinical services will continue to be made through normal clinical and operational governance, with patient safety as the paramount consideration."