THE HEAD of the country's largest public sector trade union has maintained that nearly one quarter of all occupational therapy posts have been lost as a result of new employment controls introduced by the Health Service Executive (HSE) in January.
Peter McLoone, general secretary of Impact, said that a recent study of 49 occupational therapy departments nationwide found that since the new employment directive was introduced in early January a total of 193 out of 793 posts had been lost.
"That is 24 per cent or almost one quarter of occupational therapy posts gone. This in a context where 26,000 people are on waiting lists for occupation therapy services", he said.
The executive denied that large numbers of occupational therapy posts had been or were being abolished. However, a spokesman for Impact said that the study had been carried out by the union and that it stood by the findings.
Occupational therapists provide services to people who have a disability to help them achieve independent living.
The union has claimed that a directive introduced by the executive effectively abolished posts that were unfilled when a recruitment freeze was imposed last year, as well as those that became vacant during that time.
Impact has maintained that the circular stated that only "critical front-line vacancies" that arose before 2008 could be filled, but only if other vacant posts that arose this year are abolished.
The executive said that any position which fell vacant "may be filled through a decision of the area employment control groups, established to assess priorities in relation to filling posts".
"Any OT [occupational therapy] post which was vacant at the end of 2007 can also be filled by identifying another post, such as a non-front-line post, which can be held vacant instead," it said.
The executive said it was also committed to providing additional services for the elderly, the disabled and primary care - which were deferred from last year - and that these would require additional occupational therapists.
"In the period since the HSE was established to the end of June 2007 the number of occupational therapists employed in the health service grew from 705 to 955 - an increase of 35 per cent. This rate of increase outstrips that of practically every other profession and indicates the commitment of the HSE to enhanced OT services".
"A national recruitment campaign to recruit more occupational therapists is due to commence at the end of March 2008", it stated.
In a speech to a conference organised by Industrial Relations News, Mr McLoone also said that early intervention initiatives were also being suppressed as part of the executive's new controls.
"For instance, in the Dublin region, 460 children with mild learning difficulties are currently waiting for therapy services . . . Other suppressed areas include development disability posts, sanctioned to meet the requirement of assessments within a three-month timeframe. As a result, the high-minded promises that accompanied the Disability Act will be rendered little more than a con on disabled people and their families," he said.
