MANAGEMENT at Letterkenny University Hospital have said they are in “regular engagement” with staff, following emerging concerns that significant disruption is being experienced within the hospital’s supervisory structure.
This comes after correspondence was received by this newspaper last week, claiming issues span several sub-departments within the Facilities Directorate, “resulting in major operational repercussions”.
“This has caused major delays for inpatients receiving scans, attending hospital appointments, and being moved between wards, distribution of food and cleanliness of the hospital,” the correspondence states.
“Supervisors across the affected departments had been performing duties far beyond their job descriptions for an extended period to maintain operational standards.”
According to the letter, LUH management were formally notified by supervisors that unless pay restructuring or role regrading was addressed, they would revert to working strictly within
their job descriptions from March.
“These concerns were not acted upon by LUH management, and supervisors have now withdrawn all duties that fell outside their contractual obligations,” the correspondence claims.
Supervisors have raised concerns that staff they supervise “are currently earning higher salaries than the supervisors themselves and some at clerical grade which they query, was this done through due process”.
The letter further states: “Staff representatives highlight this as yet another example of LUH management overlooking internal staffing issues and taking frontline supervisory staff for granted.”
We asked the HSE for a response to the claims. In a statement, a spokesperson said: “Letterkenny University Hospital management are in regular engagement with staff and any issues of concern are dealt with in the usual managementindustrial relations process.
“As with every industrial relations process, management take appropriate steps to minimise disruption to patients where possible and constructively engage with the unions to progress solutions.”