Agency staff cost Galway hospitals €21,000 a day
Two public hospitals in Galway – UHG and Portiuncula – are spending in excess of €21,000 every day on temporary agency staff, the Health Service Executive has confirmed.
Figures released to Sinn Féin reveal that University Hospital Galway spent some €1.7 million on agency staff in the first five months of this year. Portiuncula in Ballinasloe forked out €1.4 million on agency staff during the same period to the end of May, according to the figures released to Louise O’Reilly, Sinn Fein’s health spokesperson.
The total outlay, €3.2 million, equates to a daily spend on agency staff in the two public hospitals of a little over €21,000.
The party’s general election candidate in Galway West, Maireád Farrell, a former city councillor, said the expenditure confirmed that agency staff bills were ‘out of control’.
“The figures show how rampant spending on temporary agency staff instead of directly employed staff is financially crippling the health service,” said Ms Farrell.
See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.