HSE must publish patient-safety assessment behind CUH staffing restrictions – Harmon
HSE must publish patient-safety assessment behind CUH staffing restrictions – Harmon - The Labour Party
- HSE cannot hide behind employment ceilings when CUH management is warning about patient safety
- Harmon demands clarity on 172 priority posts before winter
Labour’s Senator Laura Harmon in Cork South Central has called on the HSE and Minister for Health to publish the patient-safety assessment underpinning staffing restrictions at Cork University Hospital and explain why funded, clinically prioritised posts are being delayed.
Senator Harmon said:
“The HSE’s response to the warning from CUH’s own CEO raises more questions than answers.
“We are being told CUH is above its approved workforce limit. But an employment ceiling is not a patient-safety assessment. The question is whether CUH has enough doctors, nurses and other essential staff to safely care for patients this winter.
“CUH’s CEO has said the current situation is not sustainable and that she does not believe it is safe to enter winter with this level of staffing uncertainty. That warning cannot be brushed aside.
“CUH has identified 172 priority posts needed ahead of winter. These are existing vacancies that have been funded and clinically prioritised. The HSE must explain why they are not being filled.
“We also know that 24 funded consultant posts are caught in these restrictions, while appointments for 30 children with urgent and complex neurological needs were cancelled because arrangements for a consultant from Belfast could not proceed. These are not numbers on a spreadsheet. These decisions have consequences for patients and families.
“It is also deeply concerning that CUH management says it was previously asked to reduce a list of around 120 priority posts because the number would ‘not look good nationally’. If that is accurate, the Minister needs to explain how that could possibly influence decisions about frontline staffing.
“I am calling on the HSE to publish the breakdown of the 172 posts, confirm how many are funded, explain why they remain unfilled and publish the patient-safety assessment underpinning these restrictions.
“The Minister must also examine staffing pressures across HSE South West before winter.
“Patients in Cork and Kerry deserve to know that staffing decisions are being driven by clinical need, not workforce ceilings. The Minister and HSE need to act on these warnings now.”