With no agreement on a staffing plan for the last several months the HSE has, with some exceptions, been implementing a policy of not appointing personnel to replacement positions. Photograph: Jeff Moore/PA Wire
No statement was issued by either the Department of Health or Department of Public Expenditure following the talks which also involved senior officials. With no agreement on a staffing plan for the last several months the HSE has, with some exceptions, been implementing a policy of not appointing personnel to replacement positions.
The chief executive of the Irish Medical Organisation, Susan Clyne, will tell the Oireachtas Committee on Health that the HSE recruitment embargo had resulted in non-consultant hospital doctors being required to work beyond levels that are safe for patient care. “The consistent narrative of record levels of health budgets and the additional numbers employed in the health service masks the reality of the demands on the health service and the deficits in funding for over a decade. While the health service, like all public services, must provide value for money it must be funded appropriately to meet the needs of a growing and ageing population, and that is simply not the case currently.