IMO Statement - NCHD Overtime
IMO receives commitment from HSE that ALL hours worked by NCHDs will be paid for in line with NCHD Contract
IMO calls on hospital managers to cease reinterpreting nationally agreed contracts and to ensure that NCHDs are paid all their entitlements
Agreement reached on further engagement to resolve ongoing issues for NCHDs
Monday 8th January 2018. In light of recent moves by Connolly Hospital, and ongoing problems in University Hospital Limerick, the IMO met with the HSE today to discuss difficulties experienced by NCHDs in securing their contractual overtime payments.
At the meeting, the IMO received a commitment from the HSE National Director of HR that all hours worked by NCHDs will be paid for in line with NCHD Contract. A clarifying memo from Connolly Hospital is to issue and in respect of University Hospital Limerick the longstanding overtime issue is to be resolved in line with contract provisions.
Further agreement was reached in respect of ongoing engagement between the IMO and the HSE on a monthly IMO/HSE meeting to identify and address NCHD contractual issues and other working arrangements.
Speaking after the meeting Dr Paddy Hillery, Chair of IMO NCHD Committee said “We welcome the progress made today but now the HSE must ensure that all hospital managers adhere to the terms of the nationally agreed contracts. For too long NCHDs have been exploited at hospital level and the IMO have had to step in to ensure they get paid their basic contractual entitlements. In the case of Limerick NCHDs have had to undertake industrial action in the past just to get paid their overtime, yet the practice continues. This is totally unacceptable, national agreements must mean what they say.”
Dr Hillery also said that given the recruitment and retention crisis in our health services it is important that NCHDs are treated in a professional manner, just like any other employee: “The increasing number of NCHDs who leave Ireland to work in systems abroad where they are valued and treated with respect should be a matter of grave concern to the HSE. We hope that the new engagement process between IMO and HSE will ensure that blatant attempts to breach contracts become a thing of the past. NCHDs want to spend their time caring for patients not filling out forms or chasing up HR departments to get paid their salary entitlements.”