Reduction of 50 staff in Cork hospitals over one month period 

There was a reduction of 50 staff in Cork hospitals and 51 in the Cork and Kerry Community Healthcare sector between August and September, according to HSE figures.

Cork University Hospital (CUH) had 49 fewer staff in September than it did in August, despite the recent lifting of the recruitment embargo, according to the monthly employment report from the HSE.

CUH had 5,347 staff in August, but this had dropped to 5,298 in September — the most recent date for which data is available.

Overall, Cork hospitals were down 50 staff month-on-month, with Bantry Hospital’s headcount going from 331 to 325 and the Mercy’s increasing from 1,499 to 1,504.

Staff levels at Mallow General Hospital and South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital stayed steady at 353 and 963, respectively.

Nursing and midwifery staff in CUH saw the largest reduction. 

Between August and September, there were 29 fewer staff in this sector.

A reduction of 37 staff midwives was slightly offset by an additional nine nursing and midwife managers and small increases in other subsections. 

There were an additional 14 medical and dental staff, the majority of whom were interns, but losses in every other area.

Management and administrative staff reduced by 11, from 518 to 507, and support staff— which encompasses areas such as catering and housekeeping — dropped by 14 from 669 to 655.

Health and social care professionals reduced by seven, with losses in health scientists, occuptational therapists, speech and language therapists, and dieticians.

It comes after The Echo had highlighted last month that staff headcounts had increased only marginally following the lifting of the recruitment embargo in July.

CUH’s headcount was up by six, Bantry’s up by four, Mallow’s up by three, the Mercy’s up by 16, and SIVUH up by nine — a total increase of 38. 

These small increases have now been offset by this month’s decrease, meaning Cork hospitals currently have 12 fewer staff than they did before the embargo was lifted.

There were also more than 100 fewer staff working in Cork/Kerry Community Healthcare settings in September than there were in July. 

The total headcount went from 9,254 in July, to 9,202 in August, to 9,151 in September, with reductions in healthcare assistants, home helps, staff nurses and midwives, public health nurses, speech and language therapists, and social care professionals.

The INMO assistant director of industrial relations, Cork’s Colm Porter, previously told The Echo: “The HSE came out publicly to say the moratorium had been lifted across all grades, but this was followed quite quickly by the pay and numbers strategy that placed arbitrary caps on the number of staff that can be recruited into the public health system.”