Health unions and the HSE will meet for further talks at the Workplace Relations Commission on Saturday in a bid to find a resolution to an long-running dispute over staffing levels. However, both sides were preparing for the possibility of disruption to hospital and other services from Monday.
Privately neither side was ruling out an 11th hour deal but there was no great optimism either, with management and some union sources suggesting there was still a considerable gap between the positions of the two sides in the wake of Thursday night’s marathon negotiating session.
During the session the HSE tabled a range of proposals including guarantees regarding the recruitment of graduates in various fields, including nursing, the use of training programmes in order to qualify more medical scientists and ongoing engagement with unions on future staffing needs.
Meanwhile the five unions due to embark on the work-to-rule across the health service next week said they had made counterproposals that would allow management to stay within its limits on pay and staff numbers but would involve the prioritisation of particular roles.
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They declined to give detail, however, and it is understood the HSE believes the union position was still well short of what would be required for a deal.
If one is not reached significant disruption to hospital and other services is to be expected, with many routine procedures likely to be postponed, adding to what are already in many cases lengthy waiting lists.
HSE management met on Friday to consider the prospects of an agreement and whether it should announce the cancellation of some services likely to be impacted by the work-to-rule on Monday in order to provide some advance warning to those set to be affected. However a decision was taken to hold off until it becomes clearer whether real progress can be made on Saturday.
In a message to members, meanwhile, Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation general secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said “unless the HSE reacts positively to the proposals put forward by the INMO and other unions our work-to-rule will be going ahead on Monday morning”.
Those other unions are Fórsa, the Medical Laboratory Scientists Association, Unite and Connect, who between them represent a wide range of other health service staff.
At the heart of the dispute is the HSE Pay and Numbers Strategy, essentially a budget for staffing that provides some flexibility for reallocating resources within the parameters of upper limits on staff numbers and total wage costs.
The unions claim that in part because of the arbitrary way the baseline was established on a set date at the end of 2023, many existing jobs that happened to be vacant were lost, and complain staffing levels in many instances continue to be unsafe.
The HSE points, however, to other jobs which were funded, a growth in total workforce numbers of almost a quarter since 2020 and continued hiring in key areas, with some 6,000 staff to be added this year.
In a statement on Friday it said: “We will continue to work under the auspices of the WRC to find a resolution of the issues in this dispute. If the industrial action goes ahead it would involve curtailment of services, but we are focused on talks towards possible resolution at WRC.”
It is conceded that reaching an agreement may be difficult, but one of those close to the process suggested a resolution was still possible given how much can happen as deadlines like this approach.
