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HSE reinforces hiring freeze after €170million overspend

The executive will only fill the most critical of vacancies as it battles to avoid financial disaster.

THE HSE IS set to roll out a further recruitment ban in a bid to cut costs, after it emerged the service has overspent by €170million so far this year.

There will be new restrictions on the filling of vacant jobs, with both HSE posts and agency workers under scrutiny, the Irish Examiner reports. Only vital posts will be filled under the strict new regime. A performance report released by the service yesterday stated: “A decision has been taken to pause current recruitment except for critical vacancies, given the scale of financial challenge visible.”

There has been a recruitment ban in place since March 2009. However, some areas exempt from the current freeze will now also see hiring stopped. There are vacancies within the service but the HSE believes that filling them would be unaffordable.

According to IrishHealth.com, the HSE will also remove some staff which have already been hired from agencies, and slash spending on agency workers to 2010 levels or below.

However, yesterday it emerged that spending on agency workers was forecast to rise by up to 50 per cent in some hospitals this year. At the time the HSE said agency workers were used as due to the previous recruitment freeze, new staff could not be hired to fill necessary posts.

Read more: Hospitals have overspent by €120m so far this year >

Read more: HSE defends soaring taxpayer bill for agency workers >

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    Mute Sean shaughnessy
    Favourite Sean shaughnessy
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    Jul 15th 2011, 3:32 PM

    The hse as a business model will laughed at all around Europe how many yrs now has it been sub standard in it’s delivery of services
    Time to reduce red tape, reduce admin costs, it’s a fact that members of the hse that have taken the recent retirement drive as set out by the government and low and behold who has filled the space vacated, but the same person on a consultancy/agency level cause of the recruitment embargo.
    It’s crazy that senseless time is spent cutting and chopping instead of reforming practices removing dead wood and focusing back on the patient and not the countless surplus employees who don’t deliver valu for money and that is all hse staff inclusive

    4
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    Mute Bernadette Gabbett Dunne
    Favourite Bernadette Gabbett Dunne
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    Aug 8th 2011, 1:38 AM

    ROSCOMMON has NEVER been CHECKED on SAFETY and tonight when I left protest outside Hospital ROSCOMMON HOSPITAL and A+E. HAVE FULL MEDICAL STAFF NURSES AND DOCTORS
    Which are totally bewildered by the WHY’S the A+E is ceasing to operate From 8pm tonight Monday 8/7/2011
    H.I.Q.A. NEVER STEPPED FOOT IN ROSCOMMON A+E. EVER and H.I.Q.A. Have always stated that they did not recommend ANY CLOSURES OF ANY HOSPITALS OR A+E’S no Closures

    4
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