Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 585: To ask the Minister for Health the reason for the rise in administration levels (details supplied) in the Health Service Executive prior to and following the 2004 reform to the present day; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15470/11]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Our health services, as with all health systems, require managers and administrators to run effectively and staff in the grades mentioned are essential in this regard. As well as senior managers, there are a large number of staff in the Management/Administrative category who are of direct service to the public including consultants' secretaries, out-patient department personnel and medical records staff as well as other essential non-front-line staff in payroll, human resource management, IT, staff fulfilling legislative and information requirements and service managers. However we need to maintain a tight control on the number of managers and administrative staff in the health service. This is necessary to ensure that we have streamlined and effective structures and also to enable staffing resources to be focused to the maximum extent on front-line patient care.

The establishment of the Health Service Executive involved the abolition of the health boards, the Eastern Regional Health Authority and a number of other statutory bodies in the health sector and the transfer of functions and staff into the new national organisation. Certain functions and staff also transferred from the Department of Health and Children to the HSE. The HSE has absorbed a further eight bodies since 2005, as part of the continued rationalisation of State bodies.

After the HSE's establishment it was necessary to ensure that services continued to be provided and that necessary management and administrative functions were discharged while new regional and national structures were developed and put in place. As the HSE established new national-level functions and the regional structures underpinning these, appointments were made to the senior management positions involved.

One of the objectives of the Employment Control Frameworks in the health sector has been to limit the number of staff in management and administration posts. However the focus is not just on limiting numbers; the current Framework specifically provides for the creation of a range of front-line posts in different professions, such as social workers, speech and language therapists and physiotherapists, notwithstanding the general moratorium in recruitment across the public services. It is important to note that the recent Voluntary Early Retirement/Voluntary Redundancy schemes resulted in a reduction of 2,025 staff or 1,626 WTE in health employment from the beginning of 2011. These targeted schemes resulted in 1,348 (1,079 WTE) fewer staff in the management/administration category.

However I note that the CEO of the HSE has indicated in the HSE's Annual Report 2010 that significant challenges remain in terms of achieving integrated and cohesive management in the HSE. It continues to be my view that, in addressing these issues, the numbers of senior management posts and administrative posts in the health sector generally need to be kept under review and that front-line services are protected as far as possible. Consideration is being given to a new voluntary scheme.