FULL RECOMMENDATION
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACTS, 1946 TO 2004 SECTION 26(1), INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACT, 1990 PARTIES : HSE MID WESTERN AREA - AND - IRISH MUNICIPAL, PUBLIC AND CIVIL TRADE UNION DIVISION : Chairman: Ms Jenkinson Employer Member: Mr Doherty Worker Member: Mr Nash |
1. Introduction of a Manager post (Community Dietician).
BACKGROUND:
2. In 2000 an Expert Group Report on Various Health Professions recommended that in the case of Dieticians the structure provided for the establishment of the post of Manager in a Hospital or Community in which a total of at least three others were employed.
The Union's claim relates to the establishment of a Community Dietician Manager post as recommended in 2000 by the Expert Group.
In late 2004 discussions were ongoing between the Management of the then Mid-Western Health Board and the Union on the introduction of a Community Dietician Manager. Difficulties arose over the reporting relationship of the new post and these were the subject of further discussions between the parties.
In September 2005, the Health Boards having been dissolved, the then HSE wrote to the Union stating that the post would be filled with reporting arrangements subject to a review which would include provision for a job evaluation exercise being carried out on the post of Senior Health Promotion Officer which was the post HSE maintained would have responsibility for the Community Dietician Manager and all dieticians in the Mid-West area.
Since 2004 the HSE have been carrying out reforms which have meant a change in the delivery of Health Services and the former Mid-Western Health Board no longer exists as a separate entity. To date there is no one appointed to the position of Community Dietician Manager.
The dispute could not be resolved at local level and was the subject of a conciliation conference under the auspices of the Labour Relations Commission. As agreement was not reached, the dispute was referred to the Labour Court on the 15th August, 2007, in accordance with Section 26(1) of the Industrial Relations Act,1990. A Labour Court hearing took place on the 28th November, 2007
UNION'S ARGUMENTS:
3. 1. The dietetic service in the Mid West area is at present without any form of clinical leadership. The Expert Group recognised the nature of the Allied Health Professions and recommended that management posts be created.
2. The establishment of a Community Dietician Manager post would meet the need to ensure adequate clinical governance of the service in relation to the coordination of community dieticians to ensure consistency of dietetic service across the board, the creation of efficiency within the service and would provide professional leadership and supervision for dieticians as a professional group.
3. The Union maintains that the changes to the administrative structure of the HSE do not negate the need to ensure that professional clinical staff are properly supervised when providing care to patients.
MANAGEMENT'S ARGUMENTS:
4. 1. Management do accept that a Managers Post was appropriate and in line with the Expert Group Report, in Limerick in September 2004. At that time the area met the requirements of the report as there were five dieticians assigned in Limerick at the time.
2. The HSE structures that now exist do not have the appropriate numbers to merit the introduction of a Community Dietician Manager as per the Expert Group Report. The current structures are the only ones that can be examined at this stage.
3. Management of Dieticians by the Senior Health Promotion Officer within Limerick Primary, Community and Continuing Care (PCCC)has been successful and is working well.
RECOMMENDATION:
The case before the Court concerns the Union’s claim for the appointment of a Community Dietician Manager in the former Mid Western Health Board Area, in accordance with the recommendation of the Expert Group Report on Various Health Professions, 2000.
Both parties agreed that the Report recommended the establishment of a Dietician Manager post in a Hospital or Community where a total of at least three other dieticians were employed. In 2004 an appointment at Manager level was in the process of being made but was delayed due to difficulties over its reporting relationship. Subsequently, Health Boards were dissolved, and in consequence the individual regions of the former Mid Western Health Board Area (Limerick, Clare and North Tipperary) no longer met the criteria set down in the Expert Group Report. Therefore, management rejected the claim stating that the introduction of any grade within the service can only be achieved within the context of the current HSE structures. However, it referred to an ongoing national examination of the development of Population Health and its linkages between all areas. This will examine the area of Health Promotion, which includes Dieticians, and management submitted that any discussions relating to any of these areas should be dealt with as part of those discussions.
The Union stated that this was the only region without a reporting structure to a Manager and maintained that the creation of such a post was vital in order to provide clinical and professional leadership to the Dieticians employed in the region.
The Court notes that Limerick Area HSE management were party to the claim at the Labour Court hearing, whereas the position developed by the Union at the hearing clarified that the claim covered the former Mid Western Area and therefore extends to Clare and North Tipperary also. The Union indicated that it was willing to accept the appointment of one Dietician Manager post, based in Limerick, to cover all three areas.
The Court notes that this issue has been the subject of negotiations for a lengthy period of time. Having considered the submission of both parties the Court sees merit in the position which emerged at the hearing and recommends that the appropriate parties should further engage with the view to appointing a Dietician Manager to cover the Limerick, Clare and North Tipperary HSE Areas. This process should be completed without delay, in the event that discussions fail to reach agreement, the matter may be referred back to the Court.
The Court so recommends.
Signed on behalf of the Labour Court
Caroline Jenkinson
17th December, 2007______________________
MG.Deputy Chairman
NOTE
Enquiries concerning this Recommendation should be addressed to Madelon Geoghegan, Court Secretary.