Number of HSE managers has risen almost 40% since 2012

The number of senior managers in the health service has grown by almost 40 per cent in the past four years, new figures show.

The Health Service Executive employs twice as many directors, the most senior administrative grade, as it did in 2012. This increase covers a period generally marked by lengthening waiting lists and trolley crises and severe curbs on the recruitment of doctors and nurses.

In the past year alone, the number of senior managers has risen 14 per cent, from 914 to 1,042, the figures from the HSE show.

The HSE said this is equivalent to “just” 1.5 per cent of its workforce, or one in 65 staff.

Senior staff at grade VIII and above have a standard working week of 37 hours but are precluded from claiming overtime. The HSE said it is common for most managers to work in excess of their contracted hours.

Grade VIII staff earn between €65,000 and €75,000 a year, while general managers earn between €65,000 and €79,000, which is equivalent to assistant principal level in the Civil Service.

Significant restructuring is continuing in the health service as decision-making is decentralised and moved “closer to patients”, the HSE said. This has resulted in the creation of new hospital groups, community healthcare organisations and service divisions that require leadership and management capability in order to be successful.

It also said reports such as that into baby deaths in Portlaoise hospital led to a requirement for additional leadership roles to ensure compliance with governance standards.

Remarkable

The figures were supplied to

Fianna Fáil

health spokesman

Billy Kelleher

in answer to a parliamentary question.

Mr Kelleher described as remarkable the 14 per cent increase in managers over the past year, coming on top of a 10 per cent increase the previous year. “It is in stark comparison to a 3 per cent increase in the number of nursing staff in our acute hospitals over the past year. The only thing to have increased at a faster rate in our health services is the number of patients awaiting scheduled treatment.”

‘Under-resourced’

According to the HSE figures, the number of staff at director level in the HSE has grown from 11 in 2012 to 23 in June 2016. Over the same period, the number of assistant national directors increased from 52 to 91, general managers from 165 to 271 and grade VIIIs from 431 to 583. The number in associated grades dropped slightly from 88 to 75.

The health service currently employs 105,755 staff, down 7,000 since 2007. There are more than 3,000 fewer nurses working for the HSE over this period but 1,300 extra doctors and dentists.

The HSE said overall management administrative staffing is down over 10 per cent since 2007 and the vast majority of such staff are employed as clerical officers.

“The public health sector in Ireland has very lean management levels and could, in fact, be deemed to be undermanaged/under-resourced, compared to healthcare service worldwide.”