Hospital staff absenteeism rate highest at Portiuncula, says HSE

HEALTH SERVICE Executive (HSE) figures show the hospital with the highest rate of absenteeism in the country is Portiuncula in Co Galway.

Figures released by the HSE show staff hours lost at the Ballinasloe hospital from absenteeism to end September running at 9 per cent.

The other hospitals in the bottom five in terms of absenteeism are Mullingar General Hospital; Letterkenny General Hospital; Our Lady’s Hospital, Navan; and Wexford General Hospital.

At the 196-bed Portiuncula hospital, the rate of sick leave among general support staff (including hospital porters) was 13 per cent, while the percentage of hours lost to absenteeism among nursing staff was 10 per cent. The vast proportion of the sick leave is certified.

Underlining the costs to the HSE of absenteeism, the HSE’s director for acute hospitals in the midwest, John Hennessy, said absenteeism in one hospital, Limerick’s Regional Hospital, was running at 6 per cent and would cost the HSE up to €3 million this year.

Absenteeism at the Limerick hospital – the 7th worst in the country – is down from 8 per cent at the start of the year.

However, absenteeism by general support staff (including hospital porters and catering staff) remains just under 8 per cent, while that by other patient and client care (including nurse assistants) remains at 16 per cent.

Mr Hennessy said the high absenteeism rates in those groups are “unacceptable and running at a level that no organisation can sustain and has to be brought back to reasonable proportion as a matter of urgency”. He said absenteeism at the hospital last year cost €3-€4 million in direct replacement staff costs for nursing and general support staff.

Mr Hennessy said: “There is a slight reduction as we bring the figures back, but you are still talking €2-€3 million in lost opportunity this year as a direct result of sick leave and absenteeism.” He said the HSE target was to reduce absenteeism to 4 per cent by year-end: “We are happy there is progress, but not happy at the pace at which we are getting to grip with the problem.”

He said absenteeism “is a huge problem and regular feature of life for hospital managers of the disruption that this creates on a Monday morning or a Tuesday morning”. Union officials are “quite supportive of the endeavours we are making on this, they are not unduly defending the indefensible”.

Siptu assistant branch organiser Michael Kiely said yesterday the reason for the 8 per cent absenteeism rate among porter staff at Limerick was “the lack of porter staff . . . That is the kernel of the problem. Because of the lack of numbers, the porters are stretched to the limit, working 12-hour shifts, overtime and working rest days to the detriment of their health.”

Mr Kiely said that the HSE needs to hire more porter staff. Porters “are working so hard, they are completely stressed out”, he said.