There will be no unilateral moves to implement roster changes for potentially tens of thousands of healthcare staff that would see them work over an extended day and week, unions said after talks with Health Service Executive (HSE) management.
The trade union Fórsa said it was agreed at a meeting with management on Thursday that a framework agreement governing work practice changes remains in place.
Earlier, a senior Minister said the Government “expects and insists” that the HSE should work within framework agreements with trade unions.
Standing in for the Taoiseach at Leaders’ Questions in the Dáil, Helen McEntee faced criticism over moves by the HSE to introduce an extended core day, which would run from 8am to 8pm, and to roster staff for any five out of seven days in a week.
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Unions had argued that the HSE was seeking to implement changes unilaterally.
The Irish Times reported on Thursday that HSE chief executive Bernard Gloster had told senior management that staff appointed or promoted since December 2008 were liable to be asked to work over an extended day or week.
He said regional managers had “sanction to make roster changes to this cohort of staff, subject to notification of two weeks, with immediate effect”.
However, Fórsa warned there would be “an appropriate response” if the HSE sought to unilaterally instruct staff to change their working hours.
In the Dáil, Independent TD Séamus Healy described the HSE chief’s memo as an “aggressive, maverick and indeed bully-boy diktat”.
“That diktat is in breach of good industrial relations practice and, more importantly, is in breach of the framework agreement between the Health Service Executive and its staff and unions. It was done without any consultation whatsoever,” he said.
Ms McEntee said it was “absolutely the case that the HSE must, will and will always work within the relevant framework”.
“That is absolutely the case. It is what we expect from the HSE and what we expect from those working in our public sector. Where issues and challenges arise, there are very clear frameworks and structures that must be adhered to and mechanisms which can be put in place to resolve any outstanding issues or disputes.”
Earlier this week, Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said she wanted full use of the new public-only consultant contract, and more consultants rostered on call or on site at weekends to accelerate the discharge of patients from hospitals.
The Irish Medical Organisation on Thursday said consultants were not the obstacle to extending routine health services over the weekend, but serious investment in staffing and infrastructure, as well as a fundamental change in how hospital care was delivered, are required to support such a move.
It said hospital staffing levels must increase if standard weekend working is introduced.
Fórsa national secretary Linda Kelly said the HSE did not have specific proposals for what service development it wanted to extend.
