Talks on staffing and structural issues related to the roll-out of new primary and community health care structures got underway at the end of last month. Nine new ‘community healthcare organisations’ (CHOs) have been put in place to manage and deliver the provision of primary and community care services across the country.

Fórsa met the HSE last month to set a work programme and schedule for the negotiations, which will deal with management and staffing structures, qualifications and reporting relationships. The union agreed to enter talks to ensure that they were conducted in a structured environment where representatives of all relevant staff groups and categories could be heard.

The talks, which are likely to be complex, will be overseen by a high-level working groups, which will include senior Fórsa representatives.