Republic of Ireland: Most HSE staff felt negative change at work during pandemic

The vast majority of HSE staff in the Republic of Ireland felt supported during the COVID-19 pandemic but more than half felt there has been a negative change in their working environment, a new survey has found.

Staff across the health service were asked about their work, and responses from almost 13,000 staff showed a mixed impact since the pandemic with staff saying they were more enthusiastic about their job than in 2018 but were less optimistic about their future in the health service.

Three in 10 said they had been subject to assault from the public in the past two years. One in three felt more positively towards the HSE since before the pandemic began.

The survey found there had been an increase in the satisfaction with the level of care delivered since 2018 but almost 4 in 10 felt the service delivered was deteriorating.

There was a strong sense of job security among staff, but satisfaction levels have fallen back on the previous survey three years ago. A third said they were dissatisfied at present.

Despite the fact that an anti-bullying taskforce was set up after the previous survey, the same number of staff reported experiences of being bullied by a colleague as in 2018. Three in 10 said they had experienced bullying or harassment at work from a manager, team leader or other colleagues.

Read full story

Source: The Irish Times, 6 December 2021