HSE salary increases – Performance rating would be ‘pathetic’

According to a report released by the Irish Patients’ Association, salaries at the principal officer grade in the Health Service Executive (HSE) have increased by an average of more than 6% in each of the past seven years.

None of this has been linked to performance.

On top of those increases, there was a 2.5% increase under benchmarking.

The HSE contends that management and administration staff levels have remained static since the creation of the HSE. That would seem to defeat one of the aims in amalgamating the various regional health boards into the HSE.

A rationale for the amalgamation was to cut down on administrative and management costs by eliminating needless duplication. But the survey suggests the costs are actually spiralling because of the salary increases.

Even though the HSE’s costs have been soaring in recent years, the services provided have been deteriorating. There were protests in Dublin on Saturday about the state of the health service.

People are now afraid to go into hospital for fear of getting something worse than their existing ailment. The superbugs are more effective in dealing with the waiting lists than the overpaid and underperforming executives.

While the HSE has been squandering money, vital areas have been left bereft of much-needed services. There are, for instance, no dedicated beds outside of Dublin for the stabilisation or detoxification of drug addicts and alcoholics.

Hard drug problems may once have been largely confined to Dublin, but these problems can now be found in just about any town in Ireland. Ignoring these drug problems is a recipe for disaster, because people addicted to hard drugs are a distinct danger not only to themselves but also to society in general.

The HSE reports a total of 365 beds are needed to meet demand. But it seems nothing is being done to provide those beds. The addicts are victims of their own folly, but society will become the victim of that folly if it ignores the problems.

Areas afflicted by drug problems are frequently plagued by other troubles, such as a dramatic increase in the number of burglaries, thefts and muggings, and ultimately the kind of murderous gang conflicts we have been witnessing. Addicts are essentially incapable of helping themselves without the help of others.

There are also shortages in relation to thousands of primary schoolchildren with special needs. They are being denied vital treatment because of delays in providing psychological assessments. Such services are essentially being rationed.

If we ignore the problem children of today, they will become the problem adults of the future. The HSE should spend more money on the needy instead of squandering it on the greedy with no performance requirements. If the management performance of the HSE were properly evaluated, it would — on the evidence of the widespread deficiencies — probably be rated as “pathetic”.