This article is from page 8 of the 2005-08-23 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 8 JPG
THE west is to bear the brunt of the biggest job cuts in the health sector, raising fears that the service will be set back 20 years.
There are worries that two of Ennis’s hos- pitals will be severely effected, when the HSE puts in place its “Value for Money Pro- eramme’, by cutting 153 jobs in the Western area.
According to a circular to the Directors of Human Resources and other senior health ex- ecutives, which has been seen by The Clare People,, the largest number of job losses will be in the west of the country, which includes County Clare.
Voluntary organisations associated with the former Mid Western Health Board will also to be affected by the cuts.
Areas such as recruitment, training and de- velopment, including nursing and midwifery planning and development units, population health and health promotions are being target- ed in a strategy to reduce posts in the health sector by 600 before the end of the year.
Irish Nurses Organisation spokesperson Patsy Doyle said nurses are particularly con- cerned about cuts in recruitment and the nurs- ing and midwifery planning units.
“We are genuinely concerned. We have been waiting for an additional night nurse for A and E in Ennis for over a year,’ she said.
Nurses also believe that a shortage of staff at St Joseph’s Hospital in Ennis will not be PYOCGb Ken NoLem
The midwifery planning and development unit under threat, ensures that nurses are available when others retire, and provides post grad courses and inservice for nursing SEIOE
“Cuts to this service will set us back 20 years,’ claimed Ms Doyle.
A spokesperson for the HSE Mid West Area said the organisation was aware of the propos- als . “A great deal of consideration will have to be devoted to this matter including exten- sive discussions with the various trade unions and professional bodies,” he said.
The circular to the HR directors said, “Op- portunities for non replacement due to retire- ment, transfers, promotion etc., particularly in those areas referred to above shall be criti- cally examined in meeting these targets,” the memo continued.
New posts being created by the HSE in 2005 under the A and E and the Intellectual Disability development plans, will not be af- fected.