A chara, – The Department of Health and the HSE claim “fairness” and “equity” are two of the core principles underpinning their decision making.
“New jobs for nursing graduates” and “improved patient care” are part of the latest HSE rhetoric to convince everyone they have their best interests at heart. In truth, the HSE plans to “let go” nurses/midwives currently in temporary jobs and refill those jobs with 2012 nurse/midwife graduates at 20 per cent less pay.
It will mean newly qualified nurses and midwives will have taken a salary cut of €11,470 since 2009.
If this HSE initiative was really about “new jobs” and “patient care”, then why hasn’t it been offered to other 2012 healthcare graduates, such as social workers, interns, dieticians, physiotherapists, and so on? This is nothing but a cynical, discriminatory HSE ploy to undermine and underpay just one of the professional groups involved in providing frontline care, ie nurses and midwives.
“Fairness” and “equity”? I don’t think so. – Yours, etc,