HSE-funded voluntary agencies can recruit if they are under their official staff ceiling levels and have the necessary funding, writes MARTIN WALL,Industry Correspondent
THE HEALTH Service Executive has said that the virtual blanket ban on recruitment it has put in place will not automatically apply to voluntary hospitals and other voluntary agencies it funds in the health service.
Earlier this month, the HSE told unions it had suspended almost all recruitment, including positions of consultants, social workers and therapists, which had been exempt from the Government moratorium up to now.
Unions were told only people in the process of being recruited who had had contracts offered to them would be taken on at this stage. Those with letters of appointment will have to wait until the position is reviewed at a later date.
The move forms part of attempts by HSE management to stave off a potential €400 million financial deficit by the end of the year. The HSE recorded a financial overrun of just over €200 million for the first six months of the year.
The body’s effective suspension of recruitment will remain in place at least until the next set of monthly financial figures become available in September.
However, a HSE spokeswoman said the move does not affect voluntary hospitals or agencies in the health service for which it provides funding. She said that if voluntary hospitals or agencies are below their official employment ceiling level and have available funding, they can recruit necessary staff.
Meanwhile, the trade union Siptu said that despite confusion surrounding the new HSE policy on the moratorium, essential recruitment to maintain the ambulance service around the country had taken place.
Siptu’s senior health official Paul Bell said it had secured contracts of employment for 25 emergency medical technicians, all of whom will be assigned to stations throughout the country in the coming weeks. He said it had also secured the retention of contracts for 14 interns or trainee ambulance personnel entering their second year of training.