Sinn Féin spokesperson on Health, David Cullinane TD, has called on the Minister for Health to commit to a safe and sustainable multi-annual workforce plan for the health service and mandate the HSE to engage with workers.
The TD for Waterford said that workers should not accept the government’s mismanagement of the health service, and that they deserve support in demanding safe conditions and dignity for workers and patients.
He added that this is an issue of dignity for workers and for patients.
Teachta Cullinane said:
“The government’s unsafe workforce plan for the HSE has left health workers with no choice but to take industrial action. Severe recruitment restrictions have been implemented as a blunt tool to manage the government’s chaotic mismanagement of the health budget.
“The Minister should commit to a safe and sustainable, multi-annual workforce plan for the health service and mandate the HSE to engage with workers. The health workers who I speak to are looking for a comprehensive plan to train, recruit, retain, and return the workers we need, which is based on patient safety, clinical need, and evidence.
“That is a reasonable demand. This is an issue of dignity both for workers and for patients, who are being severely let down in overcrowded hospitals.
“Thousands of essential posts were scrapped by the government at the start of 2024 and a recruitment embargo was implemented. The HSE is being limited to recruit at half capacity or even less, compared to what it can recruit, without regard for patient safety. At the same time, equipment for diagnostics and treatment is lying idle, hundreds of thousands are on waiting lists, and hospitals are more overcrowded than ever.
“This is a blunt instrument to make up for the government’s mismanagement of the ballooning health budget. It was done unilaterally without any engagement with workers. This is harmful to patient safety and to dignity at work.
“Caught in the middle of this is the move to extended working hours and a seven-day health service. We support and have called for that ambition. To achieve this, the HSE must be funded to radically increase staff and capacity; this will mean a doubling of working hours, and workers cannot be expected to pick up the work without additional staff.
“The government must implement a safe workforce plan for the health service. The health service needs a proper multi-annual workforce plan that joins up training, recruitment, and improved retention. The Minister and the HSE must engage with workers and their representatives to avoid industrial action and put a safe and sustainable workforce plan in place.”
