One hundred and twenty jobs are to be cut at Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital in Crumlin as part of a drive to reduce costs, according to the Impact trade union.
The union said a circular had been sent to all staff by the chief executive of the hospital, Lorcan Birthistle, indicating that "significant reductions in agency and temporary staff numbers" would be brought into achieve savings. The union added the staff cuts will affect most departments at the hospital.
But a HSE spokesman said: "Crumlin hospital have not stated any figure; the only people to have quoted a figure are the union.”
A spokeswoman for the hospital said discussions were ongoing on where savings could be achieved and that €7 million needed to be saved by the end of the year. She confirmed that activity at the hospital would be reduced because of the cuts but said it would "do everything it can to protect the most vulnerable".
Pay costs account for 70 per cent of the hospital’s expenditure and has received €14 million below its projected expenditure for the current year from the HSE. In 2007, the HSE provided funding that was €10 million less than the hospital’s actual expenditure.
"Following extensive detailed discussions with the HSE, it was indicated that the HSE will provide €10 million as a once-off payment to resolve the 2007 deficit. An additional €7 million will be provided by the HSE to the hospital on the basis that Our Lady’s achieves cost containment of €7 million before the end of 2008," the hospital spokeswoman said.
She confirmed that the cost-saving would involve "reductions in agency and temporary staff numbers and not filling some vacant posts.
“Permanent employees’ contracts will in no way be affected by this measure," she added.
“There is ongoing discussion and consultation in-house in relation to identifying posts which will not be replaced."
Impact official Eamonn Donnelly said: “It is clear that the hospital is being penalised for providing services. In 2007, the hospital received €10 million less in funding from the HSE than it actually spent - money spent as a direct result of trying to meet the needs of children referred to the hospital.
“It is significant that these jobs are being done by temporary and agency staff. The restrictions on recruitment have led to an over-reliance on temporary and agency staff despite the increase in demand for services” Mr Donnelly said.
The HSE spokesman denied there was a current recruitment freeze in place despite the union’s claims. The HSE spokesman suggested the job cuts claimed by Impact could be seen “within the context of the union's current action”.
The 28,000 Impact members in the HSE and HSE-funded organisations are refusing to cover posts left vacant by the HSE recruitment freeze. The freeze has so far left 2,700 vital jobs unfilled, the union said.
The HSE called on Impact, which represents managers and other grades, "to engage in dialogue rather than continuing its current action and agree measures which can be implemented to ensure the health service delivers the best possible service to patients while living within its budget for 2008”.
"The HSE is fully aware of the financial challenges currently within Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin. Our National Hospitals Office has been working closely with the hospital management over the past few months to assist them with the task of providing services while managing their budget and will continue to do so."
Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital is Ireland's largest paediatric hospital, with over 1,500 staff and 248 beds. It is a national centre for cardiac surgery and haematology/oncology, major burns, medical genetics and medical research for childhood illnesses.
Labour TD Mary Upton TD said the planned cuts would be a "body blow" to the level of services being provided in Crumlin.
"Hospitals such as Crumlin are forced to hire agency and temporary workers due to the HSE's recruitment freeze and the budget deficit under which they operate," she said.
"Cutting frontline services is not the right way to care for patients and ensure the best possible results from the Hospital. The way forward…is to reduce the bloated management structure of the HSE a much as possible through voluntary redundancies and pensions."