The numbers of Grade VIII managers appointed by the HSE has jumped by almost 600 in the past six years.
Figures show that there are now 1,329 managers at this grade and above compared to 744 in 2012.
Deputy Pat the Cope Gallagher said these figures of increased manager numbers are against a backdrop whereby frontline staff recruitment is failing to meet the targeted levels and whereby our hospitals are at critical staffing levels at present.
He fumed “Anytime a Dáil Deputy stands up in Leinster House inquiring about waiting lists or service provision we are constantly told about the difficulty in recruiting front line staff and the shortage of personnel.
“This clearly does not apply in the managerial grades where there has been an almost 80% increase since 2012. Certainly we have not seen an 80% increase in nurses or doctors during that time. If we had there would be nearly 5,000 extra doctors and 20,000 more nurses.”
He added that many people will wonder exactly what these additional managers have brought to the health service.
He said “The HSE has previously claimed that improved management and governance leads to better patient outcomes. Certainly in terms of emergency department overcrowding and waiting lists, things are much worse now than they were in 2012. Meantime, frontline staffing numbers are at record low levels and the numbers of new staff meet only the additional capacity demands and natural retirement rates.
“The Minister for Health and the Government need to urgently get a handle on the ever growing health crises, with record levels of patients on waiting lists in our hospitals, chronic overcrowding in our accident and emergency departments and services available on the frontline ever decreasing but yet the managerial level is ever expanding.”
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