HSE apologises to graduate nurses offered jobs at Cork University Hospital ‘in error’

The HSE has apologised to a number of graduate nurses in the southwest who were offered jobs at Cork University Hospital (CUH) “in error”.Nurses who are due to graduate this week, and who have been working at the Cork hospital, received an email last month confirming they had been offered jobs as staff nurses.However, these individuals were called into a meeting on Tuesday, during which they were told these job offers were no longer valid.A spokeswoman for the HSE South West region, under which CUH operates, said “regrettably, CUH made offers to a number of students in error, and HSE South West apologises to those involved for the impact of this error on their immediate plans”.READ MOREThe spokeswoman said the region would be recruiting all nursing graduates from University College Cork (UCC) and Munster Technological University who seek full-time positions.“Graduates will be offered employment in sites across the integrated healthcare areas in Cork and Kerry,” she said. “Graduates who have not been offered a full-time contract in CUH, but who wish to work in CUH as opposed to another site, may do so under the HSE South West’s new staff bank initiative, which is an agency reduction measure.”She added that graduates working “through the staff bank” will be provided with a permanent full-time contract and will work across the hospital “in areas where there are temporary vacancies”. [ CUH crisis shows State is at difficult crossroads on healthcare fundingOpens in new window ]“As funded permanent vacancies arise, the graduates will be facilitated to transfer into the positions,” she said.The HSE South West is one of three health regions that was placed under what is known as “tier three escalation” at the end of April. Increased spending controls are in place in regions under this status.Tensions have emerged in recent weeks between CUH and the national HSE office, with the hospital’s chief executive, Jennifer Kearney, warning that delays in approving posts and restrictions on recruitment were resulting in increased patient safety risks.“I do not believe that the current position is sustainable, nor do I believe it is safe to enter the winter period with the level of staffing uncertainty that currently exists,” Kearney told the HSE in a letter.Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has criticised the region for failing to stay within its allocated budget, having hired 760 people in the first half of the year.“Other regions have not hired in the same way. In many cases, it’s half of that. It’s really important that everybody understands that you can’t take from other parts of the country,” she said last week.[ Cork University Hospital short more than 1,000 staff, says chief executiveOpens in new window ]Ralph Brennan, student and new graduate officer at the Irish Nurses and Midwives’ Organisation (INMO), said graduate posts must be protected “despite the staffing measures introduced as part of cost-control measures currently in place”.“Early-career nurses and midwives should be offered roles in areas where they can expand their practise and build on the skills they have already gained through their four-year undergraduate training,” he said.“The INMO is calling on the HSE to provide clarity across all HSE regions regarding permanent posts for new graduates. New graduates should not become the victims of failures elsewhere in the system to control costs.”