THE HEALTH Service Executive yesterday moved to calm fears at a Tipperary hospital that wages may not be paid due to budget overruns.
An e-mail from management at South Tipperary General Hospital in Clonmel on Wednesday evening warned staff that, unless savings were made by October, the hospital may not have enough money to pay salaries.
However, yesterday, the HSE assured staff wages would be paid, despite hospital management warnings.
“All HSE staff are paid from central HSE funding so there is no issue in relation to staff being paid; this has been clarified to staff within the hospital,” it said.
The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation said the e-mail had caused “fear and upset” among its members at the hospital.
Staff were already demoralised and were under intolerable pressure due to cost-cutting measures implemented, without this needless upset, said Liz Curran, the nursing union’s industrial relations officer for South Tipperary.
Nurses had co-operated fully with the Croke Park agreement and had made changes and continued to do so, she said.
A spokesman for trade union Impact said it was ready to find ways of reducing the projected deficit within the Croke Park deal.
While there were financial challenges to be faced, South Tipperary General Hospital “must comply with its statutory obligations and remain within its allocated budget” the executive said yesterday.
As part of cost-containment initiatives, there would be an increased focus on “maximising income-collection, the elimination of unrostered overtime, seasonal bed closures and a reduction in agency staffing”, the executive said.
Meanwhile, unions have said that talks held yesterday aimed at resolving a row over alleged outsourcing of services by the HSE in Cork were not successful.
The dispute centres around a move by the HSE to contract out the running of a 100-bed community nursing unit at Ballincollig in Cork to a company in the private sector.
If there is no agreement at the Labour Relations Commission, the body overseeing the implementation of the Croke Park agreement in the health sector could be asked to adjudicate.