TÁNAISTE MICHEÁL MARTIN has said it is “inevitable” that the health service will have to move to a seven-day roster.
The Taoiseach, who also paid a visit to Bloom in the Phoenix Park today, said a seven-day roster is something the government will be discussing with the healthcare unions. “We do have a 24/7 health service, but there’s not enough of that happening in the evenings and weekends. So that’s a shift that needs to happen.”
“We need to bear that in mind too. Our pay is very competitive in Ireland, our health care workers are paid very well compared to the rest of the developed world. But the terms and conditions aren’t always great. The Business Post reported that Gloster is planning to seek the introduction of the permanent seven-day working rosters for hospital staff in the new public sector pay talks which are expected to begin in the summer.
“With over 900 vacant or temporary filled consultant posts, we simply do not have enough consultants to provide routine services over five days, let alone seven days,” Saldier said. “We have become focused on patient discharges rather than patient outcomes. “Doctors must remain free to make the best clinical decisions for patients and not be concerned with notional discharge targets.”
“Our hospital and healthcare system does not function at the weekend at the same rate as it does during the week. The level of discharges in our hospitals and the level of admissions during the week is fundamentally different,” the HSE chief added. Sligo University Hospital had the 4th highest number of patients on trolleys with 751, followed by Tallaght University Hospital with 704 patients.