HSE taking almost six-months to fill vacant Cork therapy posts 

THE HSE takes on average almost six months to issue contracts for vacant therapy posts in Cork following large recruitment campaigns, The Echo can reveal.

Information obtained under the Freedom of Information Act revealed the average length of time between advertising a staff grade therapy position for occupational therapy, physiotherapy, speech and language therapy, or psychiatry posts, to when the HSE issues an employee contract for those posts.

For national campaigns aiming to fill vacant posts in Cork, 24 weeks elapsed, on average, between the advertising of posts and the issuing of a contract. For bespoke campaigns in Cork, the average time that elapsed stood at 26 weeks.

Providing the information, the HSE said that the average timescales are based on the end-to-end process of a large campaign.

“It is, however, worth noting that such campaigns produce a national panel for each profession to which positions are offered as they arise and are more expediently filled,” it said.

“As vacancies arise throughout the lifetime of these panels, the fill time from advertising to appointment varies greatly. The fill time from the point of offer to the panel however is on average around nine weeks.”

The HSE said the advertising of a campaign is split into three separate departments within the National Recruitment Service — campaigns, job orders, and contracting.

Timeframes

It explained that timeframes can vary due to the number of applicants for each campaign; timeframes for job offers or acceptance can vary due to “workloads and priorities”; and that timeframes for contracting can vary due to clearances such as occupational health and Garda vetting.

“Also, candidates’ behaviour has a large impact on the timeframe associated with the clearance process,” the HSE added.

However, the amount of time that elapses between advertising a vacant therapy post in Cork and issuing a contract for that post has led one TD to accuse the HSE of not being serious in their efforts to address staff vacancies.

Speaking to The Echo, Sinn Féin TD for Cork North-Central, Thomas Gould, said: “One in three posts in Cork CDNTs [children’s disability network teams] are vacant and we have the HSE confirming it is taking them six months to hire staff. Where is the urgency?” he asked.

“CDNTs were supposed to help resolve issues in accessing services for those with disabilities and for those who needed them through primary care. Instead, it seems the system is just getting worse.

“By the time these staff are hired, the waiting list is so long that their job is almost impossible to do.

“Staff, patients, and families deserve better. We are calling on the HSE to engage with the unions representing healthcare staff and develop a better system.”

Staffing shortages

A spokesperson for the HSE said: “Our staff and the families we support through the 91 Children’s Disability Network Teams are having to cope with waiting times and staffing shortages, which means the service falls short of what families expect, and what staff want to deliver.

“We are sorry to those families who have had a poor experience trying to access care and will continue to work to make a difference, make changes and build a sustainable and better service for children.

“Because of a very limited pool of qualified and experienced staff, many teams have fewer staff than they need,” she added.

In January 2024, the HSE launched its first advertising recruitment campaign specifically for the CDNTs.

“We received almost 500 applications for newly qualified and experienced dietitians, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, psychologists, social workers, and speech and language therapists,” the spokesperson continued.

“The HSE cannot recruit for partner agencies that provide disability services, but we have shared with them applications where applicants have chosen to work in a county with teams led by a partner organisation.

“For example, the CDNTs in Cork Kerry Community Healthcare (CHO4) are led by the Brothers of Charity, Enable Ireland, Cope Foundation, St Joseph’s Foundation, and CoAction West Cork,” she added.

“Their HR departments are currently working through their applications.”

Workplace of choice

The spokesperson stated further that the HSE has also engaged in marketing the CDNTs as “a workplace of choice”.

“This includes HSE HR engagement with graduates in person and via webinar as well as using recordings of CDNT staff and parents on the benefits of working or receiving services from a CDNT for recruitment of staff off national panels,” she explained.

“HSE Recruitment, Reform and Resourcing has also featured the CDNTs on their ‘Service in the Spotlight’, hosted on the HSE Career Hub.

“Approximately 16,000 individuals are registered on the hub and will receive notice of any targeted recruitment campaign for CDNTs.”