19/02/2014

St Vincent's Urge To Take Immediate Action On Public pay Rules

The board of St Vincent’s University Hospital must make an immediate statement on how it intends to bring itself into line with public pay rules, Public Accounts Committee member Simon Harris has said.

The Wicklow Fine Gael TD made the call following the revelation on Tuesday that the hospital is the only facility still in breach of public pay policy.

St Vincent's was one of five hospitals contacted by the Health Service Executive last week, warning them that they would face a 20% cut in funding should they fail to make the necessary adjustments under public pay rules.

Four of the hospitals have complied with the request, with St Vincent's becoming the only to have not.

Making the call for immediate action, Mr Harris said: "We now have a situation where St Vincent’s is the only Section 38 organisation which is in breach of public pay policy, despite repeated warnings from the HSE. The hospital has serious questions to answer and its actions to date would suggest that it is not taking this situation very seriously.

"The HSE’s warning regarding a huge cut in funding remains in place. The onus is now on St Vincent’s board to protect its patients and services by complying with pay policy. This has already been spelled out on a number of occasions."

(MH/CD)

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