Unison Branch Secretary Jill Weir
TEMPORARY health staff jobs are being cut by the Western Trust here, the local health workers union has claimed.
In what appears to be the first tangible sign of the impact of healthcare cuts in the county, ‘Unison’ has said that some staff on temporary 48 week contracts have had their employment cut short by health bosses, just a week after we revealed that the Western Trust must make £30m in health cuts within this financial year.
The union said that this latest turn of events is having a ‘devastating effect, not only on the morale of the unfortunate staff affected, but also on their work colleagues’.
In response to this claim, the Western Trust said that they are ‘currently examining ways in which it can make the most efficient and best use of its resources for the most effective provision of patient and client care. A number of additional financial measures have been proposed to help control expenditure’.
Unison branch secretary in Fermanagh, Jill Weir explained: “I have had numerous calls from my members, temporary staff in the South West Acute Hospital (SWAH), who have already been given notice that their jobs will be ending soon. Anyone on a contract in the hospital, with a contract less than 48 weeks, is under the pressure and stress of worry now that they could get the phone call to say that they are on a weeks’ notice.”
She added: “In the Erne Hospital I started as a wee ‘cutty’ out of school and I have never seen so many distressed, worried and afraid. “People have come into me in the office, people are coming in very distressed. It’s not only the people that are affected, it’s people they’re working with. They’re saying, they’ve gone, what do we do?”
And, Sinn Fein MLA, Phil Flanagan described it as ‘devastating news’, ‘particularly in the run up to Christmas’.
He went on: “These staff members are being singled out as a result of the Western Trust’s increasing policy of not giving workers a proper contract with a permanent position and because of an over-reliance on temporary staff and people on zero-hour contracts. This policy is a serious infringement on the rights of working people and needs to be challenged on a continuing basis.
“The Western Trust faces a very difficult financial challenge in the time ahead. There is serious pressure on their services at the present and I would be concerned that letting so many staff go without putting in place a system for tackling to disgraceful waiting times for routine appointments and procedures.”
When quizzed on the cuts to temporary staff, the Western Trust responded:
“Like all Health and Social Care Trusts in Northern Ireland, the Western Trust is facing a very challenging financial environment. The Trust reported a deficit at the end of august 2014 of £15.7m.
“The Trust is currently examining ways in which it can make the most efficient and best use of its resources for the most effective provision of patient and client care. A number of additional financial measures have been proposed to help control expenditure.
“The Trust has been asked to develop additional contingencies by our Commissioner, the Health and Social Care Board (HSCB) to ensure a break even position this year.
“We are working with the HSCB and the Department of Health on our proposals to ensure that the Trust breaks even by the end of this financial year 2014/15.”
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