An employment strategy introduced by the HSE last week will mean the abolition of 2,000 vacant funded posts and will “seriously impact” on patient safety, trade unions have warned.
In a letter sent on Monday, the group of unions representing health service staff argue the HSE’s Pay and Numbers Strategy was put in place without consultation and fails to meet legal obligations. The strategy replaces a controversial recruitment embargo introduced last November.
HSE chief executive Bernard Gloster last week said a new employment ceiling would be set at 125,420 whole-time equivalent positions – the number of occupied paid posts in place at the end of December last year.
In addition, the HSE has provision for about 2,300 posts to staff new developments this year and for about 1,000 employees in hospices who are being brought into the public system.
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Mr Gloster told senior managers earlier this month that staffing in the HSE was “now at a level not previously seen and continues to grow”.
The unions said the strategy would see the suppression of 2,000 posts across all grades, including nurses and other healthcare professionals. This would mean funded posts vacant at the end of last year will be abolished, which the unions say they will not allow to happen. They have asked the HSE to provide details of the funded posts set to be suppressed.
Albert Murphy of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, chairman of the group of unions, said: “The proposed Pay and Numbers Strategy announced last week is likely to have a very serious impact on patient safety and staff wellbeing across the health service.”
He said “urgent engagement” with unions was needed as “staff numbers need to be based on patient numbers” and needs.
“This is the principle of the Government’s own safe staffing framework, which it is still in the process of implementing,” he said, adding that the unions were “extremely concerned” about the potential for unsafe staffing and compromised patient care.
Kevin Figgis, head of Siptu’s health division, said: “We currently need to be taking every possible step to grow and retain the workforce, but these measures have the potential to curb that very necessary growth, increase the risk of outsourcing, with a direct impact on staff and patient safety.”
Ashley Connolly, head of Fórsa’s health and welfare division, said: “The HSE needs to engage properly with unions to devise a strategy which protects services. Our members have expressed their concern at the ability to deliver services in these circumstances when it appears the posts that lay vacant on December 31st, 2023 may not be replaced.”
Under the HSE strategy each of its six regions, as well as national services, will receive a specified staffing level and within that limit can “replace, recruit and prioritise”.
Mr Gloster said the regionalisation strategy meant services in parts of the health service would not be affected by any recruitment challenges that might occur in others.
“This removes the need for nationwide interventions,” he said. “A health region or national service will be able to prioritise filling vacancies that may arise within the allocation. They can also reprioritise should they wish and remain adaptive, within overall national policy and guidance.”
Separately, the organisation representing psychiatric nurses has said its leadership will meet on Friday to consider industrial action from next week if progress is not made in talks on Thursday regarding staffing in mental health services.
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