STAFF AT the VHI’s five SwiftCare clinics across the State have been asked to take pay cuts of up to 10 per cent. The cuts, according to the VHI, are “part of a series of measures to manage the business during this challenging period”.
The VHI’s clinics, which aim to treat minor injuries quickly for a fee so patients can avoid spending hours queuing in the emergency departments of acute hospitals, are located in Cork and Waterford as well as at three locations in Dublin. They employ about 60 full-time staff and the same number of part-time staff.
The VHI confirmed the pay cuts were “temporary” and were tiered in accordance with staff salaries. They range from 1 to 10 per cent, with those on higher salaries, like doctors, having their pay cut most.
It said “the majority of staff agreed to temporary pay cuts that are tiered at between 1 per cent and 10 per cent . . . those on lower salaries would have taken the smallest reduction. The vast majority of staff have accepted the necessity to do this.”
It said the pay cuts had come into effect the month before last but declined to say how much the move was designed to save.
A spokeswoman for the VHI stressed that while the VHI SwiftCare clinics were run as a joint initiative between VHI Healthcare and Centric Health, a primary care medical company, the clinics were privately funded and operated independently to VHI’s health insurance fund.
“They operate as a stand-alone financial business which is required to meet individual financial targets. VHI SwiftCare is still a relatively new business with two new clinics opened in the last six months,” she said.
The most recent clinics to open are in Cork and Waterford but it opened its first clinic in Balally, Dundrum, Dublin, in 2005. The initial consultation fee for patients attending has gradually increased to €115.
“Like many businesses operating in today’s economic environment we have had to make a number of changes in terms of charges and staff costs to ensure the business is sustainable long term. We are satisfied that any changes made in recent times will ensure the continued success of the VHI SwiftCare clinics,” its spokeswoman said.
“We are very happy with the success of the VHI SwiftCare clinics to date and we look forward to continued success and growth in the coming year. To date, over 150,000 patients have been treated in the five existing VHI SwiftCare clinics in Dublin, Cork and Waterford,” she said.
She stressed that the clinics’ business could be seasonal, with more people attending for sports injuries at this time of year. January and February were slow but March was probably the best month on record for the business, she said. “At the moment it’s busy from first communion season and bouncy castle injuries as well,” she said.
Meanwhile, the 900 or so staff working for VHI Healthcare have not been asked to take a pay cut but they have been requested to make an increased contribution to their pensions.
“Like every business we are looking at ways of managing costs in a tough economic environment and staff in VHI Healthcare have accepted a number of measures including an extra contribution to their pension and the national pay agreement will not be paid in 2009,” the company said.
It would not say how much extra staff would have to contribute to their pensions.