The manager of a Cork hospital has warned the Health Service Executive (HSE) he cannot be held responsible for the medico legal consequences which result from delays in filling critical posts.
Tony McNamara, the manager of Cork University Hospital, has signalled in a letter to the HSE hospital network manager in his region that the delays are as a result of "HSE process" and its demands to hospitals to keep within employment ceilings.
His warning was issued to the HSE prior to its imposition last week of a blanket ban on recruitment for the month of September, which is likely to exacerbate the problem.
In his letter of August 14th last, Mr McNamara wrote: "I restate what I already outlined in my memo of May 23rd that we cannot be held responsible for the medico legal or other consequences of the HSE process that is resulting in delays in filling of critically important replacement posts."
The hospital is understood to be seeking a number of key replacement staff, including staff for its laboratory which is at the centre of an inquiry set up by the Health Information and Quality Authority following its inaccurate reading of a biopsy from cancer patient Rebecca O'Malley in 2005. This resulted in the Tipperary woman's cancer not being diagnosed for some 14 months.
The HSE was also warned about the risks of trying to curtail staff numbers earlier this year by the largest children's hospital in the State - Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin, Dublin.
In May, its chief executive, Michael Lyons, wrote to the HSE saying that for it to reduce its staff numbers to the extent sought by the HSE would be impractical, with massive service implications and "unacceptable safety risks".
The HSE and the Minister for Health, Mary Harney, have claimed, however, that the latest outright ban on recruitment to the HSE will not affect patient care.
Latest figures indicate the HSE overspent by about €245 million in the first seven months of the year. The total ban on recruitment, which will be reviewed on October 1st, is a bid to rein in spending in the hope that the HSE may still be able to balance its budget at the end of this year.
Liz McManus, Labour's health spokeswoman, says she does not believe patients will not suffer as a result of the recruitment ban.
"Since the ban was announced we have received complaints relating to staff shortages, including no physiotherapist in one Dublin hospital department, no locum available to cover when a senior house officer is ill, nursing placements cancelled in one major Dublin hospital, vacant dietician posts and no replacement staff in a rural geriatric hospital where 28 staff out of 100 are on holiday," she said.