Fórsa and other unions represented on the National Joint Council have sought urgent meetings with the chief executive of St John of Gods (SJOG), Claire Dempsey and the HSE, following last week’s announcement by SJOG that it has decided to transfer all its service provision operation to the HSE.

The SJOG’s announcement follows what it said was a review of proposals from the HSE that “fell significantly short of what is required to address the accumulated deficit and ongoing financial sustainability of St John of Gods Community Services,” and that the decision to transfer services to the HSE was ratified at a meeting of the SJOG board.

Unions contacted Ms Dempsey last weekend, noting that she had advised SJOG staff that the transfer would be in accordance with the Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employees (TUPE) legislation.

The legislation requires parties involved in such a transfer to immediately engage with employee representatives, and unions have sought an immediate meeting “in order that we can advise our members accordingly of the implications of this decision.”

Unions also contacted the HSE seeking an engagement on the SJOG’s decision to transfer services.

Responding to developments this week, Fórsa national secretary Ashley Connolly said that the union’s members working at SJOG were understandably concerned about the transfer announcement.

She commented: “Our members at SJOG, many of whom have provided long years of service to the organisation, are shocked and concerned by the latest developments, and we want to ensure that any transfer takes place with minimal disruption to them,” she said.

Fórsa official Olajide Ogidan added: “There is also a significant community of service users and families who rely on these services, and we want to ensure that, in the event of a transfer of services, there is no disruption either to staff or to service users.

“That’s why immediate engagement, as required by the TUPE legislation, is absolutely necessary,” he said.

HSE chief executive Bernard Gloster has publicly criticised the SJOG following the announcement. The specialist publication Industrial Relations News reported this week that Gloster said the community care organisation has “more than enough money” to continue its operations.

He said SJOG is a “fully funded service” with a breakeven position for recent years, and all of the protections afforded to a Section 38 body. In that context, he said, the provider’s actions “can be nothing other than a source of great concern”.

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