Fórsa has criticised the excessive use of external management consultants in public health settings, including hospitals, as media reports this week revealed that the HSE has spent at least €8.8m on private management consultants in the first three months of this year

In her conference speech response to the health minister last week, head of division Ashley Connolly said the continued reliance by the Department of Health and the HSE on external private consultants must stop.

She told the minister that profit-driven organisations are tendering for vital services and “stalking the public purse for private opportunities.”

Ashley added: “It’s completely unacceptable to see upwards of hundreds of thousands of euro being spent on external consultants, rather than investing in your own employees. 

“There is also a completely unacceptable over-reliance of agency staff throughout the HSE. This drives up costs and devalues the experience and morale of directly employed staff,” she said.

Ashley called on the minister to ensure there’s a full audit of the use of external private consultants, and to ensure the money is used more effectively. She added that the effective use of funds meant investment in infrastructure, patient services and staff.

Investment

Ashley told the minister that the Department of Health and the HSE  - largest employer in the state - are both failing as a would-be ‘first class employer’ because neither has any mechanism to provide a funded scheme for continuing professional development or lifelong learning for Fórsa members.

Ashley added: “By failing to do so the employers are squandering their greatest resource, their employees.

“If you invest in your staff you not only boost morale and efficiency, but you also prepare them for greater responsibility within the organisation. You build capacity, you grow, you promote excellence. Sadly, that’s not the HSE way,” she said.

Ashley told the minster that health staff carry the corporate knowledge, skill and experience to deliver positive health outcomes: “They are the beating heart of our health services. Their employer should be investing in them, building internal capacity and strength, instead of looking to external providers,” she said.

Ashley concluded: “It’s very clearly contained within the program of government the delivery of a universal health service accessible to all – but a real concern for our members, one expressed over the last few days, is the risk of privatisation.

“Let me send a very clear message today – we won’t sit back and allow health privatisation by stealth,” she said.

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