Dublin: Currently a hotbed of discontent as the Health Service Executive (HSE) faces widespread protests over its decision to partially freeze recruitment in Ireland. This move has sent shockwaves through the job market, leaving many job seekers in despair.
The HSE’s announcement last week dashed the hopes of thousands of prospective employees who were eagerly seeking opportunities in Ireland. The freeze on recruitment has left those who have already completed the application process in limbo.
The government has abandoned its plans to fill over 7,000 vacancies that the HSE had previously announced it would hire in the coming year. Moreover, it has declared that there will be no new hires in the next year, with only select grades exempted from this sweeping restriction. The freeze in recruitment encompasses junior doctors, healthcare assistants, home help personnel, and various other roles within the health service. Notably, the ban on recruiting administrative and management staff has been extended until the year’s end, as outlined in a memo from HSE Chief Executive Bernard Gloster.
Following the unveiling of Budget 2024, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly revealed that the HSE had been compelled to implement the recruitment freeze due to the financial crisis plaguing the health sector. Minister Donnelly informed state ministers that his department had received just one-third of the necessary funding from the budget to maintain existing services and implement new measures. According to the HSE memo, the immediate cessation of additional agency staffing has been mandated, and the freeze on recruiting general staff will continue, albeit with select exemptions.
The freeze has also impacted the recruitment of junior doctors from countries like Pakistan, South Africa, and Sudan, jeopardising the future of 3,281 junior doctors who were previously not part of any training programme and had secured employment in Ireland. However, consultants, GP trainees, nurses, midwives, dentists, orthodontists, health and social care professionals, and essential ambulance staff have been excluded from the recruitment freeze.
The Department of Health has noted that the HSE has successfully recruited 23,000 staff since the end of 2019, meeting its recruitment targets for the year.
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