Mr. Bernard Gloster:

There were many parts to that. I will comment on the two or three issues that come to mind immediately. Safety is not always about the numbers involved. It is about many of things. It is about the working environment, the space and the pressure. I have to exploit every opportunity to make improvements to the environments in which people find themselves. I have to make improvements, if I can, in the working patterns and conditions of people in terms of how they are rostered and the amount of time for which they are rostered. Unions will quite often advocate in that regard. At the same time, we have to roster in a way whereby it will allow us to run the service.

I hope we can go beyond the impossible. Let us take it down to the individual. If I walked into a hospital today and a nurse, doctor or member of the administrative staff, ward staff or clerical staff put their head in their hands and said that they cannot do this anymore, what I need to understand from that person, and the entire workforce, is what they think is within our gift right now to allow us to change the environment even a bit better, as distinct from saying that 100 more staff are needed, which is going to take two years, or more beds are needed, which is going to take three years. I need to know if there is anything we can do right now in the context of how we manage and support people.

I wish to refer to a safety issue that presents in a number of parts of the service, not just emergency departments but also in the community, where we have lone workers. Again, I addressed this issue in the media recently. I am very familiar with it from both my time in Tusla and my previous careers. I refer to the violence, harassment and aggression that staff experience. The one thing the HSE, as an employer, can do is support staff 100% in terms of physical infrastructure, resources and the processes that are designed to support them fully, not only with their health, well-being and in the context of employee assistance but also in respect of their personal dignity and safety. As a public servant, I must be on the side of the public. I must side with the public first, but staff come very close behind. When it comes to the violence, harassment and aggression being experienced by public servants, and in my case by health and social care professionals, then I draw the line. There is no justification for violence, harassment or aggression in any circumstances. We can do something to help in that regard. Ultimately, I am very focused on what staff tell me I can do right now to improve their lot.