HSE recruitment ban to end soon, Bernard Gloster tells conference

Detailed talks aimed at normalising recruitment at the HSE are at an advanced stage, with the organisation’s chief executive Bernard Gloster saying he expects movement on the issue “shortly”.

Speaking at an conference in Dún Laoghaire on Monday to highlight the availability of cross-Border access to healthcare services within the EU and EEA, Mr Gloster said staff numbers at the HSE had increased since Christmas but that the recruitment ban was affecting particular areas.

“It’s at a very sensitive stage, though, because there’s obviously a connection between workforce numbers and money and pay and available resources. And so we are in fairly detailed discussions with the Department of Health, the Minister for Health and the Minister for Public Expenditure about what it looks like for the rest of the year and what it will look like for next year particularly. And within that will come the more permanent answer.

“I’m hoping it’s going to relax pretty shortly but I can’t say any more than shortly, to be fair.”

The Parliamentary Budget Office in its spring review put the public health spending overrun to the end of April at €638 million, a rate that would result in the need for a €1.9 billion supplementary allocation from Government for the year if it were maintained.

Mr Gloster acknowledged that a supplementary payment would be required but declined to speculate on how much it might be. “We’re working to keep it down at the moment.”

He said demographic pressures are continuing to be felt in “an explosion in need” with referrals to waiting lists up 7.3 per cent and attendances at emergency departments up 10 per cent to the end of April, equivalent to 400 people in EDs and 130 being admitted to hospital beds.

HSE lead for the area Catherine Donohoe said the number of people travelling outside the State for treatment was above pre-Covid levels when the separate HSE Northern Ireland Planned Healthcare Scheme was included.

Under the terms of the European scheme patients with a referral from a GP or consultant can have a procedure carried out in any country across the EU or EEA (which also includes Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway). Costs must be paid by the patient upfront but are reimbursed within weeks.

The total number of reimbursementsin 2023 was 1,762 with €9 million paid out. In Northern Ireland there were 4,622 at a cost of €15.7 million. The removal of cataracts was the most commonly sought day procedure. The most common inpatient stays were in the areas of gynaecology, orthopaedics – mainly hip and knee replacements – and endocrinology, including the treatment of diabetes and obesity.

Among the speakers at the event was Damien Quigley of Defence Forces representative organisation PDForra which has used the schemes as the basis to provide improved healthcare, mainly at a private hospital in Northern Ireland, for members.

The association provides supports with organising advance finance, identifying the medical service provider and the reclaiming of outlay from the HSE.

Ms Donohoe acknowledged there were a number of challenges for individuals seeking to use the schemes and suggested there was scope for many other unions and patient advocacy groups to provide help to members. “The opportunity is enormous,” she said, “Any organisation that is in a position to gather a group of people together could do what they (PDForra) have done. From our perspective there is no capacity to put a ceiling on it”.