HSE paid more than €15 million to recruitment firms last year but thousands of posts still unfilled

The Health Service Executive (HSE) paid more than €15 million to recruitment firms last year to tackle chronic understaffing, but thousands of posts remain unfilled, new figures show.

Staffing levels at the HSE have been a consistent problem highlighted by management and employees, with minutes from a board meeting in March highlighting a need for almost 12,000 more whole-time equivalent (WTE) staff.

In a bid to tackle understaffing, a total of €15,735,377 was paid to recruitment firms last year, according to data provided by the executive in response to a parliamentary question from Labour TD Séan Sherlock.

However, this figure does not include expenditure for the HSE South Area, encompassing Kerry and Cork, as data was not available, meaning true expenditure is likely to be even higher.

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Recruitment spending has increased significantly in recent years, rising from €2,883,840 in 2020 to €9,781,556 in 2021.

The HSE North West and Mid West regional area had the highest spending on recruitment last year, at €8,787,848. This area includes Sligo, Leitrim, Donegal, West Cavan, Clare, Limerick and North Tipperary.

The HSE said these figures include recruitment advertising costs, placement fees, recruitment expenses and “likely includes some agency pay in some cases”.

Recent figures show almost 1,000 hospital consultant posts are not filled on a permanent basis, with some lying vacant for years.

Meanwhile, the HSE board in March highlighted a need for 11,991 WTEs, but noted the labour market was estimated to only supply 6,010 net additional WTEs in 2023.

Separately, projections have shown an additional 2,575 hospital doctors are needed by 2035, as well as at least 5,726 more nurses.

The Irish Hospital Consultants’ Association (IHCA) has called on the Government to provide funding in the next budget to “address the ongoing staffing crisis in public hospitals”.

“The stress of trying to maintain an effective and efficient service with inadequately staffed medical teams is a major factor in consultants deciding to leave to work in the private sector or abroad, with emigration figures at record levels,” the body said.

“This, together with the hospital overcrowding crisis and extreme work demands, is behind the finding that seven in 10 (69 per cent) consultants experienced symptoms of burnout in the past 12 months.”

A spokeswoman for the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) said the impact of nursing and midwifery shortages is “felt by patients and staff alike”.

“Greater staffing numbers are needed in acute and community services to ensure facilities, services and staff can all work the way they’re supposed to. The chronic staffing and capacity crises across all services has a direct impact on patient safety and the wellbeing of our members,” she said.

A spokeswoman for the HSE said between the beginning of 2020 and the end March 2023, health service staffing has increased by just over 20,000 in whole-time equivalents terms. Over 6,000 nurses and midwives have joined the workforce since January 2020, the spokeswoman said.

“While the national recruitment service, hospital groups and community health organisations will continue to directly employ and conduct its own standard recruitment campaigns, it is accepted that these sources may not provide an adequate supply of qualified health professionals to meet their current and anticipated workforce requirement,” the spokeswoman said.

“There is a global shortage of particular health professionals. As a result, it is understandable that our own recruitment activity does not always result in qualified candidates for particular roles and/or specialties. The agencies enhance our reach into international markets to specifically target relevant candidates for specific roles, attracting a broad range of candidates from the widest number of sources.”