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HSE can't 'willy-nilly' hire whoever they want, Harris says

The government has repeatedly said a recruitment freeze is not in operation.

HEALTH MINISTER SIMON Harris has denied there is a recruitment freeze in place for the HSE. 

However, the General Secretary of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) has said a recruitment freeze is in place and the contradictory government position on the situation is “rubbish” and “spin”.

Phil Ní Sheaghdha said understaffing and a lack of beds are the reasons overcrowding is hitting record levels in some Irish hospitals. 2019 was the worst year on record for hospital overcrowding as 118,000 patients went without a bed, according to an INMO analysis.

Speaking on Morning Ireland today, Ní Sheaghdha said members of the public “need to have some confidence that 2020 will be different”.

“Our fear is that unless we invest in additional bed capacity in the acute hospitals and in the long-term care and in the step-down areas, we won’t see a major difference. We know January will be pretty, pretty bad. 

“We understand also that the staffing moratorium is not going to be lifted in January. We’re very disappointed that we constantly have to raise with the HSE the fact that this is directly affecting the ability to open more beds, and you have to open more beds when you have a crisis like this and you have to have staff available immediately to staff those beds.”   

The HSE and Department of Health both maintain that no recruitment moratorium is in place, with the department noting in a statement that 10,000 more employees are working in the HSE compared to three years ago and over 1,600 more whole-time equivalent staff members are working in the public health system since December 2018.

‘Simply rubbish’ 

Ní Sheaghdha said the stance that there is no requirement freeze is “simply rubbish”.

Speaking to reporters this afternoon, Harris said there is no recruitment freeze, stating that the numbers of people working has increased.

“The health service can’t be the only organisation in the world that allegedly has a recruitment embargo and yet continues to hire thousands more staff every year.

“The number of nurses, the number of doctors, the number of healthcare assistants, the number of allied health care professionals is continuing to grow, and we have a very ambitious recruitment plan for 2020,” he said. 

19191 Talks File photo of Phil Ní Sheaghdha, INMO General Secretary. Leah Farrell / RollingNews.ie Leah Farrell / RollingNews.ie / RollingNews.ie

However, the minister added that hospitals must live within their budgets. 

“What the HSE can’t do and no public service can do is kind of just willy-nilly hire whoever they want.

“They do have to obviously be responsive to government policies and the funding levels in place because if they don’t do that you would ask me very different questions about why is there an overrun in relation to health spending as well. So the numbers are growing and they’re growing every year.”

However, Ní Sheaghdha insisted that there is a moratorium in place.

“For example, we’ve been chasing posts that have been vacant in University Hospital Cork, we looked for sanction to have them approved in October, we looked for sanction in November, the sanctions eventually came through on 20 December for 50 posts. Where are you going to get 50 nurses on 20 December?

“And we know that those posts were due to be sanctioned in October so it is a delay tactic, it’s spin, it’s completely disrespectful to people who are working very hard to provide a public health service on the frontline,” she said. 

‘No freeze’ 

Later on Morning Ireland, Culture Minister Josepha Madigan said Ní Sheaghdha is “incorrect” to describe this government’s position as “rubbish”.

“There is a priority requirement for all HSE services to maintain or to get to an affordable staffing level as it’s sustainable in 2019 and 2020 while also prioritising the delivery of safe services, we’re aware of that,” Madigan stated. 

She said “a huge amount of work” still needs to be done but the government is committed to investing in the health sector, noting that one million extra home care hours will be introduced this year.

Over the past few months, TheJournal.ie has spoken to healthcare workers in a variety of areas – nursing, speech and language therapy, physiotherapy, midwifery, administration – who’ve been affected by the recruitment embargo.

The government has always insisted there is no recruitment freeze or moratorium in place. Tánaiste Simon Coveney told the Dáil in November: “There is not a recruitment freeze. There is recruitment going on, but it has to be within budgets that have been planned for.

“There is no department that allows the sectors that it is responsible for to recruit staff without a budget to do so. That is what the HSE did in the past, but not any more. This does not mean that the HSE is not recruiting. It is.

“We need to provide more money, and we are. That is why there are significantly more doctors and nurses in the system now than 12 months ago. We will continue to do that.”

Madigan said Fine Gael has opened “more than double the number of primary care centres” that were in operation before the party came to power in 2011 and that since 2016 Health Minister Harris has opened 40 such centres, describing this as “a huge amount”. 

She said there has been a “perfect storm” in the healthcare sector in recent weeks as the flu season arrived earlier than anticipated and “there’s a pent-up demand following Christmas and the new year”.

When launching its Winter Plan in November, the HSE said €26 million would be allocated in an attempt to ease the pressure on hospitals in what is traditionally the busiest period of the year.

When asked for comment, a HSE spokesperson told TheJournal.ie: “The health system is working hard to cope with the increased demand for services and GPs, community services and hospital staff are dealing with very significant surge in workloads.

“The HSE has invested in some additional capacity in both the community services and hospitals. Fair Deal and home support services have received additional resources to deal with demand and up to 199 additional acute beds are being opened to support service delivery.”

They noted that attendances at emergency departments were up 7% in December compared to the same period in 2018. In the week running up to Christmas Eve, ED attendances were up by 14.2% in the same week in 2018 with attendances by people over the age of 75 up by 24.9% in the same week in 2018.

The spokesperson added that the HSE is “investing in additional primary care and home support staff and services in 2020″.

“This includes provision for additional staffing which will be recruited as 2020 progresses. The numbers of staff working in the health services continues to rise within the funding available,” they said.

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    Mute Mark
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    Mar 13th 2020, 5:38 PM

    Are playdates ok ? NO!

    286
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    Mute Sorcha Ní Shúilleabháin
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    Mar 13th 2020, 6:47 PM

    @Mark: Playdates were never ok. Heard a top child and family psychologist on the radio a few weeks ago speaking about how they’re needless and normally only an excuse for parents to get together to gossip about other parents! Children get plenty social interaction at creche, preschool, school or even at home with their families!!

    61
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    Mute Angel Drake
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    Mar 13th 2020, 7:39 PM

    @Sorcha Ní Shúilleabháin: how old are your children?? Because if u had children in junior infants and third class ud know they always ask for play dates, top psychologist? Please name? Because play dates I feel builds there self esteem and gives them cultural or social differental experiences.

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    Mute Sorcha Ní Shúilleabháin
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    Mar 13th 2020, 9:05 PM

    @Angel Drake: I’m patently aware of the needs of school-aged children and of the myriad of research that overwhelmingly indicates that play dates are not necessary for social development. Informal play with siblings etc. and interaction in school-based settings is far more valuable than the kind of contrived and overly structured situations that parents conjure up.

    11
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    Mute Kevin Bury
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    Mar 13th 2020, 11:43 PM

    @Sorcha Ní Shúilleabháin: seriously, go pet ur cat

    40
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    Mute Shakka1244
    Favourite Shakka1244
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    Mar 13th 2020, 5:50 PM

    Kids can catch it and kids can spread it.
    Please everyone, just for a few weeks, assume you have the virus and act like you don’t want to spread it.
    We all need to work together here !

    233
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    Mute Shakka1244
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    Mar 13th 2020, 6:27 PM

    @David Jordan: Please ignore this. It’s pure lies.
    .
    @journal, please remove this dangerous misinformation. I’ve seen this poster spout this rubbish on loads of threads.

    17
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    Mute Shakka1244
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    Mar 13th 2020, 7:05 PM

    @Shakka1244: thank you @journal
    Fair pkay

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    Mute Quentin Moriarty
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    Mar 13th 2020, 7:25 PM

    @Shakka1244: ????????

    1
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    Mute Shakka1244
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    Mar 13th 2020, 9:07 PM

    @Quentin Moriarty: someone called David Jordan keeps posting the same stuff saying kids can’t catch it or spread it. Completely false. I asked for his post to be removed.

    18
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    Mute Dino
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    Mar 13th 2020, 10:04 PM

    @Shakka1244: thank god, if it wasn’t for people like you I don’t know what we would do

    2
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    Mute Bleurgh
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    Mar 13th 2020, 5:59 PM

    Look people it’s 2 weeks, with your children….relax! It’s good for kids to be bored. I have friends who grew up in rural Ireland in the 80s, who wouldn’t see anyone outside their family for 2 or 3 weeks over the summer.
    I have muted my kids classes WhatsApp groups, I am so annoyed at the parents talking with such dread of being at home with their own children in their own house. I’d rather my kids at home than visiting them in icu. Myself and himself are trying to do working from
    Home in shifts.
    Also I hate play dates with a passion, I wish for the days that kids knocked on the door to play!
    Deal with it, it’s a few weeks!

    251
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    Mute Paddy Dunne
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    Mar 13th 2020, 6:45 PM

    @Bleurgh: it’s not going to be 2 weeks it’s going to be at least a month 2 weeks is preliminary 4 days to Easter hols there will be no school till after Easter

    50
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    Mute Tommy Roche
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    Mar 13th 2020, 6:50 PM

    @Bleurgh: There is absolutely no way this is just a 2 week closure. The governments plan is to try delay the peak of infection until late spring/early summer when the usual winter type ailments all but die out, thus leaving the health services under a little less pressure and better able to focus on this particular virus. Even the governments experts are saying our peak is at least weeks away, if not months, so how would it make any sense to reopen schools when the situation is going to be worse on the 29th March than it is now ? Ive no doubt the closure will be extended until after the easter break, and if at that point the number of infections are still rising then anything is possible. Wouldn’t be one bit surprised if the closures run up to the summer holidays and schools dont reopen until next Sept.

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    Mute Jacqueline McCabe
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    Mar 13th 2020, 5:47 PM

    No

    25
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    Mute Arya
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    Mar 13th 2020, 5:42 PM

    How are the children learning at home? Is there tools online from the schools or department of education?

    12
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    Mute Johnny BeGoode
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    Mar 13th 2020, 5:44 PM

    @Arya: The educational website twinkl is offering free membership to all parents this month, this is a fantastic resource. Go to www.twinkl.ie/offer and enter the code IRLTWINKLHELPS

    52
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    Mute Record Sunshine
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    Mar 13th 2020, 5:45 PM

    @Arya: mine are learning all about Zelda at the moment. They’re in primary school and a few weeks of doing f all won’t harm their career prospects.

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    Mute Bríd
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    Mar 13th 2020, 5:45 PM

    @Arya: Yes, there’s lots of online classroom resources. Many schools are using Google Classroom and Edmodo as well as sending links home, textbooks and assigning research projects.

    15
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    Mute Dave Harris
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    Mar 13th 2020, 5:47 PM

    @Arya: my junior infant will have daily lessons on seesaw. Used it today and its great

    28
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    Mute Sarah Green
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    Mar 13th 2020, 6:00 PM

    @Arya: My son’s school is doing work with the pupils via their iPads.

    9
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    Mute Bleurgh
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    Mar 13th 2020, 6:00 PM

    @Arya: teachers in primary have sent home packs for kids to do. At second level many have platforms where teachers have uploaded work

    16
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    Mute Towger
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    Mar 13th 2020, 6:30 PM

    @Arya: My secondary children had a full day of school online today, following their normal timetable. The school is using MS Teams. By all accounts it went better than expected.

    15
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    Mute Adam Conroy
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    Mar 13th 2020, 7:20 PM

    @Arya: they’re using online platforms. In fairness though, most education happens at home. A month out of school won’t do any harm.

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    Mute Mark Porter
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    Mar 13th 2020, 7:50 PM

    @Arya: our secondary school has online access to subjects and work.

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    Mute Kevin Bury
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    Mar 13th 2020, 11:47 PM

    @Record Sunshine: 78 thumbs up…. villages and their idiots

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    Mute Kevin Thompson
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    Mar 14th 2020, 7:55 AM

    Regardless whether it is 2 weeks or 2 months to mind your own children, it would be a great opportunity to teach them not to be selfish a**holes in hoarding as their adult counterparts and learn how to look after the more vulnerable in society

    10
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    Mute Mark Porter
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    Mar 13th 2020, 7:48 PM

    2 weeks is the isolation period.

    2
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