Fórsa trade union will address the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health tomorrow, Wednesday 20th May, at 9.30am.
National secretaries Ashley Connolly and Linda Kelly will be accompanied by Clodagh Kavanagh, Chair of the Health & Welfare division.
The union will present findings from a report commissioned by the union and carried out by TASC. You can read the full report here.
The research is based on a substantial evidence base: 3,775 workers responded to a national survey and 24 workers took part in focus groups.
Speaking ahead of the Committee meeting, Ashley Connolly, Head of Health and Welfare Division, said: “Today, we are raising the alarm about the very serious challenges affecting morale across the health and social care workforce.
“The central message from the research is clear. Low morale is not a marginal staffing issue; it is affecting retention, service capacity, patient care, and confidence in the delivery of Sláintecare.”
National secretary Linda Kelly said: “We are calling for a series of practical measures to be implemented now. First, staffing levels should be assessed based on local need, with routine cover for maternity leave and faster recruitment to cover long term absences.”
“Second, retention strategies should be focused on sustainable workloads so experienced staff stay in post. Thirdly, pay equity must be improved, particularly for workers in the community and voluntary sector, and finally consultation with workers must be increased to improve decision making.”
Ashley added: “This report tells us what we already know – that understaffing, poor retention, weak consultation, and pay inequities are creating a vicious cycle. Experienced staff leave, pressure grows on the workers that remain, morale worsens and services become even harder to sustain.”
“Two weeks ago, we learned, without warning, that the HSE was to reimpose recruitment restrictions yet again. To do so during a morale crisis as serious as this is nothing short of irresponsible, given the knock-on impact the non-filling of posts has for those who remain in their roles, doing their best to provide services to patients as the pressure continues to grow.”
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