HSE must fill Clinical Nurse Specialist vacancy urgently and restore Palliative Care Services in North Wicklow
Posted August 8th, 2012 in Community and Local Government, Health, Local Work, News
Health Service Executive has no right to “dilly dally” on the filling of this vital post – their failure to do so is inexcusable and reckless
Wicklow Fine Gael TD, Simon Harris has said that the HSE must immediately set about filling the Clinical Nurse Specialist vacancy in County Wicklow so that palliative care services in the north of the county can be very quickly restored.
Deputy Harris said that it was “inexcusable and in contravention with Government policy that the HSE would leave such an important post on the frontline of community nursing vacant for such a period of time as to arise at a point where they feel the need to suspend temporarily palliative care services in a part of Wicklow”
!I have been informed that interviews to fill this vacant nursing post took place in March of this year yet the HSE has dragged its heels on making this appointment. It is not the job of the HSE to make health policy – that is the job of Government and there is no policy suggesting that this position should be vacant. In fact, the exact opposite is national policy – frontline nursing positions can and must be filled,” stated Deputy Harris.
“The HSE failed to inform me of their reckless decision to suspend palliative care in north Wicklow. I was informed by local GPS who received a letter from the HSE, Upon receipt of this news, I have now written to the Regional Director of the HSE in Dublin-MidLeinster asking that this vacancy be filled and that the dilly-dallying in this regard ends. I have also written to the Minister for Health informing him of this reality for people in Wicklow and asking that he contact the HSE immediately to instruct them to get on with the appointment of this important post,” added Deputy Harris.
“I will apply all the possible pressure, along with local GPs to resolve this unacceptable, bureaucratic mess and the fear and worry it has caused for families,” concluded Deputy Harris
08/08/2012