HSE recruitment freeze 'a kick in the teeth' say nurses
A recruitment pause was extended last month to include almost all roles with graduate nurses and midwives among the few exemptions.
The HSE’s recruitment freeze for nurses and midwives is "a kick in the teeth” to people working in under-staffed wards and units, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) has said.
A recruitment pause was extended last month to include almost all roles with graduate nurses and midwives among the few exemptions.
However, Tony Fitzpatrick, director of professional services, said nurses were stunned to hear no more help is coming in the near future.
“It’s a big issue, it’s really like a kick in the teeth — they are working hard, they are short-staffed on wards everywhere, they are trying to deliver the service and the service is growing,” he said.
“That just brings you to a downwards spiral where everything is getting worse.”
Referring to the pandemic, he said: "They had all the claps and the clap on the back during covid, but that’s totally forgotten about now.”
Nurses and midwives are burned out, he said, saying: "The staff who are there now are not going to stay unless they know there is more staff coming to help them out, and they will be able to meet the demand."
Speaking to the during the All Ireland Annual Midwifery Conference, he said the freeze is not sending the right message to international recruiters.
“It’s demoralising for people trying to recruit for the HSE as well, and workforce planners,” he said.
“After covid, all the international evidence is we need to beef up our health service, and that requires more staff.
"But if you turn off and on the tap, that is a disaster for recruitment.”
While student numbers have increased, he said there is also an immediate need.
“In the EDs [emergency departments] you don’t have sufficient nursing numbers, you’ve patients on trolleys waiting for beds and they’re really struggling to have the staff to look after them — which isn’t a safe environment for those people,” he said.
The union is also unclear so far about the impact on post-graduate nursing courses.
INMO president Karen McGowan also criticised the freeze during her speech to the conference.
“The HSE should be utterly ashamed about their recruitment embargo,” she said.
Midwives are critical health professionals she said, adding: “We must be protected.”
She described the freeze as a “dangerous, retrograde, and frankly bizarre step”, saying the union will consult with members on further action.
In response a HSE spokeswoman said it is funded to recruit for over 6,000 new posts this year.
"We reached that target before the end of the year, hence the temporary pause. During 2023 we also filled 13,000 replacement posts," she said.
In nursing and midwifery the equivalent of an extra 1,400 full time staff were employed by September with others in process.
"This may bring the total number of additional net growth of nurses and midwives across our services to over 6800 from January 2020 to September 2023," she said.
The HSE accepts, she said, the pause will require "significant efforts" from managers to balance workloads for existing staff.
