Hundreds of health staff are to retire
HUNDREDS of local health workers will retire within weeks and over half of the estimated number of 700 in this area are skilled nurses and health care assistants.
Paul Bell, national divisional organiser of Siptu's health division has set out his deepest concerns about the future of the public health service provision in his home county, as the February 29 deadline comes ever closer for exit of some 3,500 health workers nationally.
'Until the staff recruitment embargo/moratorium is relaxed or abolished, the net effect of this latest forced staff exodus from the public health service is the destruction of services to our community's most vulnerable and needy,' he said.
'This is not scaremongering, as many senior citizens and vulnerable citizens depending on care in their home and community can already confirm the cutting back of this resource and in some cases the inability of the HSE to provide this service, which has a cost saving effect as the patient does not have to be cared for in a hospital setting.'
The families of those suffering from mental or psychiatric illness will also be severely impacted, as nurses who can retire at 55 but often worked on past their retirement date, are exiting now 'not only on the grounds of pension, but also as a result of fatigue and low morale'.
He fears the cuts to workers from all grades in Our Lady of Lourdes, County Louth Hospital and hospitals caring for the elderly will result in the closure of wards, increases in waiting time which is again becoming a feature as the private health insurance industry continues in a downward spiral. And unless additional bed provision is made for elderly citizens on an emergency basis, the whole system may be overwhelmed.
'Remember the cuts in staff are also compounded by previous cuts in numbers and now cuts in the spend on agency work and furthermore flat rate cuts in the budgets of our hospitals all lead to a negative impact on the provision of medical care for all citizens in our commmunity,' he said.
'The one final point I would like to make and that is the willingness of local communities to protest against local Hospital closures, both in Drogheda and Ardee is a development which needs to be supported and built on for this reason. When we protest against the closure of a hospital or service, we in turn need to reinforce that the protest is not just about these specific issues.
'It is also about the kind of society we want to live in and leave to the next generation. In this regard its not to late to demand that humanity and common decency cannot be traded to the Troika and that the provision of a Health Service cannot be taken away from us as citizens,' he added.
- HUBERT MURPHY
