LABOUR RELATIONS Commission talks on extensive job cuts and savings by the Health Service Executive in the West adjourned without agreement last night, after more than seven hours of discussions involving management and unions.
A consultancy report for HSE West has said that savings of €15 million-€20 million could be achieved over six months if up to 1,000 staff on temporary contracts were let go.
The staff concerned are employed by HSE West or voluntary organisations in receipt of State funding.
“Very frustrating” was how Siptu senior health organiser Paul Bell described the discussions at Merlin Park Hospital, Galway, chaired by John Fallon of the LRC.
Siptu, Impact and Irish Nurses’ and Midwives’ Organisation (INMO) representatives said after the talks adjourned it had not been possible to negotiate without specific details on the savings being sought. Potential cuts amounting to between €90 million and €150 million by the end of the year were cited by the HSE West team, according to the unions, with a projected saving mentioned of up to €32 million from temporary job cuts.
“We weren’t given any specific figures on jobs, but conflicting figures and the proposal contained in the HSE’s own consultancy study for 1,000 temporary job cuts wasn’t even confirmed,” Mr Bell said. This was “an issue which starts in the west and will extend across the country”.
Figures for HSE West deficits were being leaked because HSE management was using the region as a “template” for widespread cutbacks nationwide, Mr Bell added.
“The public have to be aware of this in terms of delays in elective surgery, cutbacks in services to the mentally ill, cutbacks in home help and other serious impacts on medical care. Medical care is not an optional extra, and it has to be delivered by qualified people.”
INMO industrial relations officer for the West Noreen Muldoon said the outcome was “very disappointing” as many of her members were now “very concerned about media reports”.
Impact officials said they were “disappointed by the lack of engagement” shown by the HSE.
“The HSE has acknowledged that services right across the region will be severely hit if these cuts are implemented,” Impact’s health national secretary Louise O’Donnell said in a statement.
“Their approach seems indiscriminate and ill-advised. We have adjourned now to consider what was discussed today. If there is any light at the end of this particular tunnel, it will be a recognition of the cost-saving approach provided for in the Public Service (Croke Park) Agreement. We have yet to see if that will be used as a guide by the HSE in this case.”
The discussions got off to a “less than auspicious start”, according to Siptu national nursing official Louise O’Reilly, as unions had not received copies of the HSE consultancy study by Mott McDonald, details of which were published in yesterday’s Irish Times.
The study said saving €15 million-€20 million through cutting up to 1,000 temporary jobs could result in the “downsizing and/or curtailment of some services”, as the majority of posts identified were front line. The report also suggested other cost-saving options, including scaling back elective admissions for a defined period. HSE West confirmed last night that the mid-year financial position showed an overrun of €90 million across the organisation before the end of the year.
