Fórsa will cooperate with the establishment of nine ‘learning sites’ to pilot new HSE community healthcare organisation (CHO) structures, which the union says will be central to the implementation of the ten-year Sláintecare programme. The move comes after a year of WRC-brokered negotiations on the implications of the change for staffing, reporting relationships and career structures.

But the union has warned it will withdraw support if the pilots don’t deliver better services, while maintaining effective clinical governance in the health and social care professions (HSCP).

Specifically, Fórsa has insisted that HSCP managers must retain “direct and active input into the line management function” to ensure that effective clinical governance is not compromised once new ‘network manager’ posts – and accompanying reporting relationships – are established.

The health and social care professions include speech and language therapists, social care workers, social workers, psychologists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and dietitians.

Speaking at the union’s biennial Health Division conference in Sligo last week, Fórsa’s Head of Health Éamonn Donnelly said the model had the potential to bring better health services closer to communities, while easing pressures on A&E and other hospital services.

But he said a culture shift from a “hospital and doctor-centric health service” was needed, along with substantial medium-term investment in staffing and capital projects. He pointed out that the Sláintecare programme, which has cross-party political support, envisages the recruitment of around 1,300 extra HSCPs over time.

At the conference, the union’s Health Division Executive put forward a number of motions that broadly supported – but sought safeguards over – the new CHO model. The Executive also successfully sought remission of a number of branch motions that opposed the reform on the grounds that its changed reporting relationships could put HCSP clinical governance at risk.

Éamonn said the union had agreed to back pilots of the new structures following a lengthy Workplace Relations Commission-brokered process and extensive consultation with Fórsa branches and groups of health and social care professionals. He told the conference that, as well as improving community services, the approach had the potential to deliver improved career structures.

The WRC-brokered agreement between Fórsa and the HSE will trigger an immediate review of HSCP career structures in a process rooted in the Expert Group Report on Allied Health Professions, and supplemented by the recommendations of a later ‘McHugh-Doran’ report, which took account of more recent advances in the professions.

The agreement also included specific measures on improved staffing structures across the health grades, including job evaluation and a resumption of recruitment of various health grades. The WRC was clear that these measures were contingent on agreement on line management and reporting relationships.

Éamonn said progress on community health organisation structures was crucial for the future development of community and primary health and care services.

“Our healthcare model is too hospital-centric, and we need a culture shift from an overly doctor-centred health service. Long-overdue investment in primary care, close to citizens, is a public good in its own right. It will also free badly-needed capacity for those who really have to go to hospital, where our members are also struggling against the odds to deliver quality services and to develop professional specialisms to meet today’s medical and social needs,” he said.

He added that the country’s 18,000 health and social care professionals had been neglected in health service planning and delivery, and that 80-90% of final year health profession students were considering emigration as a more attractive option than working in the Irish health service.

There are 4,282 child protection cases awaiting allocation of a social worker, including over 650 that have been judged as ‘high priority,’ according to Fórsa. In evidence to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Children and Youth Affairs yesterday (Tuesday) the union said a minimum of 285 additional social workers were needed to bridge the gap, and that 8% of existing social work posts were currently vacant.

Speaking to the Committee, Fórsa official Éamonn Donnelly outlined a range of recruitment and retention difficulties regarding social workers in the child protection area. They include the complexity and challenging nature of the work, the ready availability of posts in the UK, a cumbersome recruitment process that favours the use of relatively expensive agency staff, and a rising “blame culture” that discourages young social workers from going into the child protection field.

“Many young social workers who enter into the workforce are immediately challenged by the demanding nature of child protection social work. Typically these would be college graduates in their early to mid-twenties who can opt to travel to countries like the UK,” he said.

The union also said a high proportion of child protection and broader social work issues were concentrated in urban areas, where housing and other costs of living could be prohibitive for newly-qualified graduates. This also limited the attraction of social work as a career.

Mr Donnelly called for a review of the social work career structure to attract more young people, and to retain the accumulated skills of experienced staff. He said that social work career structures had not been examined for over 15 years, despite the growing complexity of child protection challenges and practise.

“Innovative ways need to be found to provide a gateway for college entrants to choose social work as a profession. On entry into the workforce, this gateway must be developed into a pathway, whereby social workers can see the prospect of career progression as their levels of experience grow. Automatic advancement from basic grade to senior grade social worker, based on protocols and checkpoints, would provide a clear vision of career development at little or no cost to the State, as those levels of posts already exist in the system,” he said.

Mr Donnelly also identified a need to develop specialist expertise in the service. “Having garnered years of experience, it is not uncommon for a social worker to excel in a particular area of expertise. But this is not reflected in current structures. The service would benefit greatly from converting specialist expertise into a model of advanced practitioner working. To complete the journey, this expertise and experience can be of further benefit if imported into posts that have responsibility for service planning and delivery,” he said.

The union also said that the profession was predominantly female, which had the effect of exacerbating staff retention difficulties. “As social workers become more experienced, there is a correlation between work demands and increased family pressures. An overwhelming percentage of social workers are female and they find it increasingly difficult to achieve a level of work-life balance. It is also inevitable that there will be large tranches of maternity and parental leave,” it said.

Frustrating delays caused by pent-up demand for the recently-reinstated health service job evaluations should not obscure the fact that the resumption of the scheme was a major victory for workers, according to Fórsa Head of Health Éamonn Donnelly.

Speaking to delegates at the union’s Health Division conference last week, he said over 500 evaluations had taken place, and that the majority had led to jobs being upgraded.

The conference passed a motion from the South Tipperary branch, which called on the union to complain to the HSE and health department about the delays.

Divisional chair Martin Wall told delegates that the reinstatement of the scheme for clerical and administrative staff – which was later extended to staff in Tusla – was a massive achievement for the union, which had become a benchmark for other Fórsa divisions.

“Hundreds of assessments have been carried out so far, and a substantial proportion has led to regradings, mainly because health workers put their shoulder to the wheel during the crisis years, and took on additional responsibilities even after their pay was cut.

I fully acknowledge the frustration of members on the wrong end of the current backlog of assessments. We know that this is a result of pent-up demand from the long years the scheme was on hold. And the union has done all it can to get additional teams of trained assessors in place to deal with the problem.

“I can only ask branches to recognise the significance of what’s been achieved, and to ask members for patience and tolerance as we navigate these ‘speed bumps’ on a long road that’s taking us to a much better place,” he said.

Almost half of Ireland’s health workers have experienced mental health difficulties, and over a quarter are currently experiencing a mental health issue, according to a new survey published by Fórsa. A higher proportion (55%) of workers aged under 35 said they had experienced a mental health issue in the past, while 30% of this age group said they were currently experiencing a problem.

The results of a survey published at the union’s Health Division conference last week showed that over 60% those who responded said they would be uncomfortable discussing a mental health issue with their line manager, with over a third (37%) saying they would be "very uncomfortable doing so."

Just over 80% said their employer was doing too little to promote mental health awareness, and only 7% said they were very well supported at work while experiencing mental health difficulties. Some 38% said they were either very or moderately unsupported.

But, on a positive note, over two-thirds said they would be comfortable initiating a conversation with a colleague they knew was experiencing a mental health issue. Just over a fifth said they would be very or moderately uncomfortable doing so.

A large number of respondents said the union should address the stigma around mental illness in the workplace and elsewhere. They also expressed concern that mental health issues could have a negative impact on their career prospects.

Staff shortages and working time were among the issues linked to workplace mental health difficulties in the survey responses. The most common answers to an open-ended question about the actions needed to tackle the issue also included encouraging discussion, agreeing policies with employers, providing information and training to members, featuring mental health in campaigns, strengthening bullying policies and procedures, and promoting mental health initiatives.

In response to the survey results, Fórsa official Catherine Keogh said the union was ready to engage with health service management to strengthen policies and procedures to promote good mental health in the workplace, and to deal supportively with mental illness.

“The finding that half our members have experienced mental health issues is a wake-up call. Our survey clearly shows that health workers are supportive of colleagues in difficulty, but that management isn’t doing enough either to raise awareness or help staff who experience mental health problems. We are determined to find ways to promote a more proactive and positive response in the Irish health service,” she said.

The online survey was conducted using Fórsa’s members’ health e-bulletin between 3rd and 30th April 2019. Some 84% of respondents were women, which broadly reflects the union’s membership in the health sector. Fórsa represents some 30,000 staff in a variety of health settings. They include health and social care professionals, clerical and administrative staff, technical grades, and others.

The next round of public service pay negotiations should include talks on establishing “a structured, fair and sustainable funding model” for 'section 39' agencies, which provide housing, disability and other services on behalf of the State, according to Fórsa.

Speaking at the union’s Health Division conference in Sligo last week, Fórsa official Ian McDonnell said it was time to address “fundamental flaws” in the funding model for 'section 39' agencies, which are independent of the State but rely heavily or entirely on public funds to provide services and pay their staff.

Pay in most community and voluntary sector bodies was cut during the crisis, but it has not been restored in the same way as in the mainstream public service.

Ian said Fórsa had fought for a “long-overdue start to a pay restoration process” and that money was due to change hands shortly in many of the 50 organisations where the HSE is the primary funder. Talks are due to begin on rolling this process out to a further 254 bodies.

“Fórsa has played an instrumental role in delivering the recent 'section 39' pay restoration model via negotiations with the HSE under the auspices of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC).

“However it’s become obvious that, while we will put money back in our members’ pockets, it doesn't address the fundamental flaws in the 'section 39' funding model, which is perpetuating a two-tier approach that’s detrimental to service users and staff. The reluctance of some of 'section 39' organisations to cooperate with the financial validation required of them highlights the downside of an otherwise positive culture of independence in the sector.

“Creating a new, more effective fair and sustainable funding model is essential to support community services and those who use and provide them. This is a public service issue, and it should be addressed in the public service pay talks,” he said.

The conference passed motions calling for pay restoration in the sector.

Delegates at Fórsa’s Health Division conference roundly condemned the paucity of public provision of mental health services in Ireland. The division also called on the Government to invest seriously in State supports for those with mental illnesses.

The union also says it wants health sector employers to “create an environment of meaningful support” for workers who suffer from mental health problems, and says it will seek discussions with health service management with a view to developing policies to remove stigma for workers who experience them.

A series of policy motions at the union’s Health Division conference in Sligo last week also included calls for the HSE to provide suicide prevention training for clerical and administrative staff working in mental health facilities, and for vacancies in health promotion services to be filled.

The union’s Health Division Executive adopted a mental health theme for the conference. A number of expert speakers addressed delegates, who also contributed to specialist workshops on aspects of mental health and the stigma that surrounds mental illness.

Fórsa also published the results of a survey that found almost half of Ireland’s health workers have experienced mental health difficulties. Over 60% of the 1,600-plus health workers who responded to the survey said they would be uncomfortable discussing a mental health issue with their line manager, while over 80% said their employer was doing too little to promote mental health awareness.

Divisional chairperson Martin Walsh gave a brave and moving opening speech, in which he referenced his own former experience of mental health difficulties. “As an individual who has suffered from depression in my not too distant past, I can speak from experience about my journey. I have had days were a reason to breath was a struggle, days where the idea of claiming the in-death benefit from the union sounded like a good idea. I’ve had days were I struggled to put one foot in front of the other, but I did,” he said.

He said the stigma that surrounds mental illness added to the misery of those who suffer from it, and formed a barrier between them and a healthy and happy life. “If surveys were telling us that half our workforce was experiencing influenza, or chronic back pain, or any other physical ailment, I have no doubt that there would be immediate and urgent action from employers and the Government,” he said.

Speaking in support of employer action to tackle the stigma associated with mental illness, Health Division Executive member Michelle Spearman said health workers were afraid to seek help for fear that they would “forever be labelled as the person with mental health difficulties.”

“Colleagues who are experiencing difficulties know that stereotyping and stigmatism can occur in any area of employment. Many feel it’s self-defeating to seek help, or even discuss the issue, as they fear they will suffer discrimination in their careers if they do. We want to work with employers to create a workplace culture where each of us is able to challenge stigma whenever we encounter it,” she said.

Michelle said stigmatism took many forms, including “the unkind word, social exclusion, isolation and a feeling of being devalued.” The Fórsa mental health survey revealed that many feared a negative impact on their career prospects if they were labelled as having had a mental illness.

Over 200 delegates at the conference also pledged to campaign for “serious” state investment in mental health services to the public. Speaking in support of the motion, Jarlath O’Connor, who works in Mayo mental health services, said mental health was the “poor relation in our health system.”

He said psychiatric hospitals and institutions had a hugely damaging impact on those who experienced them. “People who are victims of institutional care have only two pathways in life: they go from psychiatric to geriatric care, or they die. We know that one-in-four people suffer a mental illness. They are the victims of their illness and we need services that support wellbeing with early intervention,” he said.

Ten national political parties, who between them fielded over 1,000 candidates in last week’s local elections, have signed up to a trade union pledge to increase local authority funding and restore local council powers in areas like housing, water and environmental protection.

The figure rises to over 1,100 when independents, and individual signatories whose national party didn’t back the pledge, are included.

The ‘Local Power Pledge’ was endorsed at national level by Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin, the Labour Party, the Social Democrats, the Green Party, People Before Profit, Solidarity, Independents 4 Change, Aontú and the Workers Party. Almost 300 (290) candidates also signed the pledge individually, including 15 Fine Gael candidates and 52 Independents.

The pledge is part of the ‘More Power To You’ campaign for enhanced local democracy and community services, which was launched by Fórsa, Siptu and Connect in March. Between them, the three unions represent over 30,000 local council workers.

The unions called for substantially increased revenue and funding powers for local authorities after they published research that shows Irish councils have less autonomy from central government than their counterparts in 39 European countries. Their ‘More Power To You’ campaign also calls for legislative changes to facilitate directly-elected mayors and restore and expand town councils, which were abolished in 2014.

Fórsa Director of Campaigns Joe O’Connor, who has coordinated the campaign, said the overwhelming response demonstrated a hunger for stronger local democracy among citizens and their elected representatives.

“The fact that only 8% of Irish public spending occurs at local government level, compared to an EU23 average of over 23%, is compounding shortcomings in services as diverse as housing, water, waste and sustainable domestic energy use,” he said.

Prior to launching the campaign in March, the unions commissioned research from Dr Mary Murphy of Maynooth University. It found that Irish local authorities perform fewer functions than municipalities across Europe.

Her report, Democracy Works If You Let It, said Irish local democracy had been eroded by austerity-era budget cuts and staff reductions; the centralisation of services like water, driving licences and higher education grants; the privatisation of services like refuse collection and housing; and excessive executive direction and new management processes that have increased bureaucratic powers at the expense of political representatives.

Three of the national parties that signed the pledge did so with slight caveats. Fianna Fáil does not support the reintroduction of public provision of domestic waste services. The Workers’ Party and Solidarity do not support directly-elected mayors.

Read more about the More Power To You campaign HERE. 

President Michael D Higgins signed the Parental Leave (Amendment) Bill 2017 into law last week.

The new legislation increases unpaid parental leave from 18 weeks to 26 weeks. It will be implemented on a phased basis, with an extra four weeks in the first year and the second four weeks in year two.

The qualifying age of children has also been extended from eight to 12.

Parents who have already taken some or all of the current 18 weeks’ leave and who have children up to 12 years of age are permitted to take the extra eight weeks.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) is set to launch a new policy document entitled “Realising the Transformative Effect of Social Dialogue and Collective Bargaining in Ireland” at its all island Congress this July.

Speaking last week at the European Trade Union Confederation's (ETUC) 14th Congress in Vienna, Austria, ICTU official Owen Reidy said Congress is seeking to address Ireland’s collective bargaining deficit. One of its key proposals is to promote the idea of an EU Directive on Collective Bargaining.

“There is one fundamental issue that unites and binds all of us together, the universal right for working woman and men to have the right to free collective bargaining in their work. Yet today in Ireland, all workers do not have this fundamental right.

“All the independent evidence shows that not only is collective bargaining good for workers in respect of their pay and conditions, but - it also boosts productivity, it improves efficiency, it improves workers wellbeing and it makes our societies and economies that bit more equal.

“You cannot truly have decent work without the right to collective bargaining,” he said.

He outlined the voluntary nature of industrial relations in Ireland to delegates and said: “Trade union density and collective bargaining coverage is in decline. We have to ask who does this model serve?”

Mr Reidy said it is in the interests of all European unions that workers right across the continent enjoy decent work, decent pay. “Without a right to collective bargaining, this cannot be achieved,” he said. He asked the assembled unions in Vienna to support and endorse the work of the ETUC to promote collective bargaining rights across the EU.

The ETUC is the voice of workers and represents 45 million members from 90 trade union organisations in 38 European countries, plus 10 European Trade Union Federations.

The ETUC aims to ensure that the EU is not just a single market for goods and services, but is also a social Europe, where improving the wellbeing of workers and their families is an equally important priority.

You can read the full text of Owen Reidy’s speech to the European Congress HERE.

Former Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) official, Esther Lynch has been elected Deputy General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC).

Esther was elected to the top job last week by delegates at the 14th ETUC Congress in Vienna, Austria. Voting delegates included general secretaries and presidents of some 90 national trade union organisations from 38 European countries.

The ETUC is the voice of workers and represents 45 million members from 90 trade union organisations in 38 European countries, plus 10 European Trade Union Federations.

Esther was ICTU’s Legislation and Social Affairs Officer between 1993 and 2015, before moving to the ETUC to take up the post of Confederal Secretary following her election at the 2015 Paris Congress.

Esther worked closely with one of Fórsa’s forerunner unions, IMPACT, on the development of protected disclosure (‘whistleblowers’) legislation and secured an advisory role for trade unions in the development of the Register of Lobbyists.

ICTU General Secretary, Patricia King, warmly welcomed Esther’s appointment to the four year Brussels-based post, and congratulated her personally after the vote.

Patricia said: “I was delighted to be among the first to offer my congratulations, and those of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, to Esther on her well-deserved appointment.

“The level of support that her candidacy received reflects the very high regard in which she is held across Europe.

“Esther was a superb choice with long experience of what the job involves. This is a great result for the 45 million workers who are members of ETUC-affiliated trade unions.”

Fórsa also extended congratulations to Esther on behalf of the union.

The ETUC aims to ensure that the EU is not just a single market for goods and services, but is also a social Europe, where improving the wellbeing of workers and their families is an equally important priority.

Fórsa was among the unions that backed the ‘School Strike for Climate’ demonstration in Dublin last Friday (May 24th). It was the second national protest led by secondary school students calling on the Government to take action to address the climate crisis.

The protest was one of hundreds staged by young people across Europe on the same day.

Merrion Square in Dublin hosted the largest protest, which was attended by around 3,000 people, and was supported by a number of civil society bodies.

Among the Fórsa representatives attending the march were members of the union’s new just transition network, which held its first meeting prior to the demonstration.

Discussions at the just transition network meeting focussed on the development of a climate change strategy for Fórsa, how to inform members about the union’s work on climate change and encouraging greener workplaces.

Protests took place around the country, with the second-largest outside Cork City Hall. A number of schools also held smaller events in solidarity with a global day of action led by the Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg.

See related HERE.

The standard domestic subsistence ‘day rates’ paid to civil servants who are out of the office on business are to increase by 10% from July. But overnight rates will remain the same.

Once the changes are officially sanctioned in the civil service, they will be rolled out to health, local authorities, education and other parts of the public sector.

The ‘five hour rate’ is to increase from €14.01 to €15.41, while the ‘ten-hour rate’ goes up from €33.61 to €36.97.

The changes come on foot of a regular union-management review of the rates, which takes account of inflation in cafes, restaurants, takeaways and fast food outlets, plus – for the overnight rate only – accommodation costs.

No increase is sanctioned if the relevant consumer price index-measured increases come in below 5%. This accounts for the lack of movement on overnight rates because inflation in accommodation costs – which make up the lion’s share of the calculation – were relatively low.

Fórsa official Billy Hannigan, who represents the union in the process, said he would now ask management to prepare a draft agreed report for adoption by the civil service general council. This will give effect to the increases, which will then be applied across the public service.

The number of civil and public servants reached 330,500 in 2018. This is above the previous peak of recent times, which was reached in 2009.

The biggest number (118,000) were employed in the health services, followed by education (107,000). There were 38,000 civil servants, 28,000 local authority employees and 13,700 working in non-commercial semi-state organisations.

The figures are set out in the Public Service Performance Report, 2018, which was published earlier this month.

The report also shows gross current expenditure of €57 billion, plus €6 billion of capital expenditure last year.

An impressive list of public service outputs included 930,000 students in primary and post-primary education, 1.5 million people accessing health professional or community health services, and 333,000 benefit payments and over 600,000 pension payments each week.

The Retired Members Group attended the recent conferences in Kilkenny and Sligo and we were very encouraged by the responses we received from delegates.

We distributed a substantial number of application forms and information packs.

All the information shared at the conferences is located on our dedicated page at forsa.ie.

The Retired Members Group will be in further contact with branches in the near future to keep members informed.