Latest news with #JenniferCarrollMacNeill
Irish Independent
10 hours ago
- Health
- Irish Independent
Temporary sick leave scheme for health workers with long Covid extended for six months
After that, they will return to standard public service sick leave arrangements. The move comes after Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill accepted a Labour Court recommendation yesterday to extend the temporary scheme to December 31. However, the court rejected health unions' key demand that a special occupational sick pay scheme should be set up on a permanent basis for workers suffering from Long Covid. There are around 159 employees on the temporary special scheme, which was due to end on June 30. 'The minister fully supports the decision and will now move to ensure the scheme is extended as per the Labour Court recommendation,' said the department in a statement. A temporary 12-month special paid leave scheme was introduced in July 2022 for employees suffering from long Covid. The scheme aimed to support staff working in environments where they could be exposed to Covid before PPE and vaccinations were readily available. Albert Murphy, Chairperson of the Ictu Group of Healthcare Unions, said the workers get full basic pay under the temporary long Covid sick pay scheme. If the court had recommended unions' demand for a special occupational scheme, the workers be entitled to two further extensions of paid leave, and possibly further extensions subject to medical assessments. The court dismissed the creation of a special occupational scheme on the grounds that Covid-19 and long Covid are not considered occupational illnesses or an injury at work in this jurisdiction. As a result, it said it could not decide otherwise. 'The court is saying its hands are tied because long Covid is not considered an occupational illness, but we are saying the ball is back with the government and it should remove that obstacle,' said Mr Murphy. The court said there was a dispute over the scheme between the Department of Health, HSE and healthcare workers represented by Siptu, Fórsa, the IMO and INMO. It said it arose in relation to the unions' claim for an Occupational Illness Scheme, similar to a Blood Borne Disease scheme, for sufferers of long Covid. The court said the unions also want the establishment of a scheme for other long Covid sufferers who are excluded form a Special Leave with Pay Scheme. 'Any recommendation that the court makes has to be based on the fact, that at this point in time, Covid-19 and long Covid are not considered occupational illnesses or an injury at work in this jurisdiction,' it said. 'It is not within the gift of the Labour Court to determine otherwise.' The unions said as of January this year, there are 159 employees receiving a temporary scheme of paid leave. This equals less than 0.01pc of health workers.
Irish Times
18 hours ago
- Health
- Irish Times
Long Covid scheme for healthcare workers to be extended after Labour Court recommendation
The special payment scheme for healthcare workers with long Covid will be extended until the end of the year, following a recommendation by the Labour Court . On Thursday, the court recommended a final extension of the current scheme up to December 31st, 2025. The scheme was due to conclude next Monday, June 30th, but the Department of Health has now accepted the Labour Court's recommendation. Earlier on Thursday, Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said the scheme would finish at the end of this month . READ MORE The scheme provides financial support to healthcare employees who cannot work due to the effects of long Covid. From the start of 2026, anyone still in receipt of the scheme should transition to the Public Service Sick Leave Scheme, the court said. Speaking in the Dáil , Ms Carroll MacNeill said a temporary scheme was put in place in 2022 for healthcare workers who 'went beyond the call of duty, working in frontline environments'. She said the scheme had been extended four times, most recently at the end of June 2024. The Minister said she understood that about 159 employees 'are currently on the special scheme, the majority of whom have been supported on full pay for almost five years'. But, she added: 'I understand the Department of Public Expenditure has been clear, and was clear at the time, that this is the final extension that would be granted. As such, the special scheme will conclude on June 30th, 2025.' However, following the Labour Court's recommendation on Thursday afternoon, the Government decided to extend the scheme once again. Albert Murphy, chairman of the Ictu group of healthcare unions and INMO director of industrial relations, on Thursday said unions were calling on the Government to classify Covid or long Covid as an occupational illness or injury, in line with other EU countries. 'This would remove a barrier identified by the Labour Court to resolving the issue for the small group of healthcare workers who remain affected by long Covid,' Mr Murphy said. In its recommendation, the Labour Court said: 'At this point in time, Covid-19 and long-Covid are not considered occupational illnesses or an injury at work in this jurisdiction' and it is 'not within its gift to determine otherwise'. Long Covid occurs when people who were infected with Covid-19 continue to display symptoms long after the infection is gone. Symptoms vary but can include fatigue, shortness of breath, chest pain, problems with memory and insomnia.
RTÉ News
a day ago
- Health
- RTÉ News
Long Covid scheme extended after court recommendation
The Labour Court has recommended a final extension of the current special scheme for healthcare workers living with long Covid to run up to 31 December 2025, which the Government has now accepted. At that point, anyone remaining on the scheme should transition to the Public Service Sick Leave Scheme, the court said. Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said she fully supports the decision and will now move to ensure the scheme is extended as per the Labour Court recommendation. Earlier in the Dáil, the Minister said the special scheme would finish at the end of June. Minister Carroll MacNeill said that the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform was clear in June 2024 that that was the final extension, with the scheme originally due to end at the end of this month. The Government said 159 Health Service Executive and Section 38 organisation staff are currently on the scheme and in receipt of full pay. The scheme was put in place in 2022. Speaking before the Labour Court made its recommendation, Labour Party spokesperson on health Marie Sherlock said the response from Government so far had been "disrespectful and downright degrading to those who gave so much and risked so much at a time of such uncertainty and risk for this country". Deputy Sherlock said that these patients contracted long Covid in the workplace, and said "the refusal to extend this scheme" had reflected "a shocking lack of empathy and indeed respect for these workers". She said people had described the scheme as "a lifeline". Minister Carroll MacNeill said there was no intention not to be empathetic. Ms Carroll MacNeill said that health workers had gone beyond the call of duty, particularly during the early days of the pandemic, when the protections were not as strong as they came to be and "when the risk was extraordinarily great". She said a temporary scheme was put in place for 12 months in 2022, and believed there were 159 people in receipt of full pay for the past five years, and that this scheme had been updated four times.
The Journal
a day ago
- Health
- The Journal
Hospitals under the 'spotlight' with new performance dashboard showcasing best and worst in class
A NEW ONLINE dashboard which puts the 'spotlight' on the productivity performance of hospitals around the country has gone live this afternoon . Launched by the Department of Health, the new dashboard collates pre-existing statistics into fresh formats that provide perspectives on what has been dubbed a 'productivity conundrum' by senior officials. The new platform, which will be open to the public to access, comes just days after Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill announced that the majority of health staff will have to work weekends under a new rostering deal. The online tool allows for the comparisons of waiting lists and other performance indicators, such as weekend discharges, but it will also allow hospital management to benchmark their performance against their peers. The department said the dashboard is a 'learning tool' and 'not a stick to beat anyone with'. Quietly it is the expected it will increase accountability for hospital management teams whose productivity metrics are going in the wrong direction. Increase in consultants but fall-off in appointments One of the key data set looks at the rise in the number of full-time consultants working in the health system. Despite the increase, the data shows a fall-off in consultant appointments. Consultants could have held 1.5 million more appointments last year if they were operating on the same level of productivity as 10 years ago, according to the new metrics calculated by the Department of Health. This is something department officials have said there needs to be an 'important debate' around, stating that hospital management need to 'get to grips with that question'. Department officials said the dynamics behind that discrepancy have yet to be explained, adding that Ireland would have a 'vastly more effective service' and 'massive reductions in waiting times' if 2016 productivity levels had been maintained. Acknowledging that consultants may find the blunt comparison unfair given the impact of Covid-19 on the intervening years, officials still said the health service seems to be 'a bit stuck' on the roughly 1,200-appointments-per-consultant figure. Described as a 'productivity puzzle', officials outlined the fall in outpatient appointments per consultant. There were 1,812 consultants in 2016, rising to 3,061 in 2024. However, the number of appointments per consultant has fallen from 1,686 in 2016 to 1,209 in 2020 – where it appears to have roughly plateaued into the present day. Using the correlating 3.1 million outpatient appointments in 2016, the department said this meant the same efficiency could have resulted in 5.2 million outpatient appointments last year. Advertisement However, this is 1.5 million above the actual figure of appointments which stood at just 3.7 million in 2024. 'We're open to hearing from consultants who are the experts in it,' a department official said, adding that it 'definitely warrants a major effort' to push back towards previous productivity levels – even if 2016 rates are no longer realistic. What hospital is doing the best at weekend discharges? The dashboard also looks at weekend discharges, something the health minister has been focusing on since taking office. The data shows that only three hospitals are meeting the target of 17%. It shows that Portlaoise Hospital, Portiuncula University Hospital and Cork University Hospital have reached the target, but the majority fall far short. Officials believe that moves to a fuller seven-day working week will improve productivity. Will money follow productivity? The new dashboard attempts to distil years-long increases in productivity across different types of care into a single figure so as to compare where there has been expenditure increases, and to review if productivity has followed. Officials said it showed that some hospitals are 'notably better' at converting increased funding into activity, adding that they wish to determine the reasons for that. The department said that when major public investment decisions are being made in healthcare, there is a need to have assurances that investment will be converted into improved services. This platform will now add transparency around that very question. The health minister said today that there has not been enough focus on how hospitals are locally managing increased investment and whether it is being done in the most efficient way for better patient outcomes. Carroll McNeill said: 'For too long hospitals have had the opportunity to regard themselves as independent republics. 'They are very much part of a State system that is funded by the State, and it's a reasonable and appropriate process to shine this light in relation to their activity.' She said it could not be the case that increased investment in health did not result in increased efficiency. Carroll McNeill added: 'That means more outpatient appointments, that means better use of surgical capacity, that means better use of diagnostic capacity. 'And I think the productivity dashboard here is a way of making sure that we are holding hospitals and individual specialisms to account to manage themselves better.' With reporting by Press Association Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. 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RTÉ News
2 days ago
- Health
- RTÉ News
Long Covid scheme for healthcare workers to end
A special scheme for healthcare workers living with long Covid will finish at the end of June, Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has confirmed. Ms Carroll MacNeill was speaking in response to a question in the Dáil by Labour spokesperson on health Marie Sherlock, who said the response so far had been "disrespectful and downright degrading to those who gave so much and risked so much at a time of such uncertainty and risk for this country". The Minister said there are 159 Health Service Executive and Section 38 organisation staff who are currently on the scheme and in receipt of full pay. She said they will continue to be supported and the full provisions of the public service sick leave scheme will apply for anyone who remains unable to return to work. Ms Carroll MacNeill said that health workers had gone beyond the call of duty, particularly during the early days of the pandemic, when the protections were not as strong as they came to be and "when the risk was extraordinarily great". She said a temporary scheme was put in place for 12 months in 2022, and believed there were 159 people in receipt of full pay for the past five years, and that this scheme had been updated four times. Minister Carroll MacNeill said that the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform was clear in June 2024 that that was the final extension, saying the scheme would end at the end of this month. She said she was aware that the matter was heard at the Labour Court earlier this month, and said she awaited the court's ruling. Deputy Sherlock said that these patients contracted long Covid in the workplace, and said "the refusal to extend this a shocking lack of empathy and indeed respect for these workers". She said people had described the scheme as "a lifeline".
