The union has written to Minister Health Stephen Donnelly T.D. seeking a meeting to address the exclusion of Health and Social Care Professions from the senior management structure of the  six new HSE Health Regions.

As part of the transition to Sláintecare Fórsa has been involved in ongoing engagement with the HSE on several significant issues. In recent weeks it has become clear that although medical staff, and nursing and midwifery staff will benefit from having a specialist regional director, health and social care professionals will not have a regional director.

In effect this would mean that the insights and concerns of health and social care professionals, who form the second largest clinical group in the HSE, would be absent from critical decision making.

Fórsa national secretary Linda Kelly said: “The exclusion of HSCPs from senior operational management structures will serve only to delay the achievement of Sláintecare objectives. It is in our view, an entirely retrograde step to allow this exclusion to happen.”

Linda continued: “The current restructuring of the HSE into health regions will likely shape the face of healthcare in Ireland for the next two decades. It must be done with the best interest of citizens in mind. All staff have an integral and important role to play in the delivery of Sláintecare and the new structures must reflect that at all levels."

The HSE’s own HSCP office produced a position paper in January 2024 making a compelling case for inclusion of HSCPs in the senior management team of health regions. In the paper they argue that collaborative clinical leadership enhances patient outcomes. You can read the paper here.

Linda concluded:  “The position paper of the HSE HSCP Office is widely supported by our members, by the relevant professional bodies and by other colleagues in the Health Service. We are asking the Minister to intervene so that at a minimum, further discussions take place on this decision.”

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