HSE redeployment of staff Coronavirus

FunkSoulSista · 11-03-2020 11:03pm #1

Has anyone working in the HSE heard anything about the plans to redeploy staff in relation to Covid-19 support?

touts · 11-03-2020 11:10pm

FunkSoulSista wrote: »

Has anyone working in the HSE heard anything about the plans to redeploy staff in relation to Covid-19 support?

It will happen. This is the biggest health crisis in the history of the state. Both front line and admin staff will have to be redeployed from what they are currently working on to this crisis. If the unions object or look for more money etc then public opinion will quickly turn savagely against them.

Addle · 11-03-2020 11:10pm

I haven’t heard it with hse staff, but I have heard it proposed with dept social and family affairs staff.

physioman · 11-03-2020 11:11pm

Only redeployment so far is admin staff to man call centres.

11-03-2020 11:12pm

touts wrote: »

..... If the unions object or look for more money etc then public opinion will quickly turn savagely against them.

They'll undoubtedly look for some compensation.

ThewhiteJesus · 11-03-2020 11:15pm

There is plans in place and people ready to be redeployed, not many though so maybe one per office(admin only)

alibab · 11-03-2020 11:18pm

Yes i have heard off this but not in a negative way more so that if frontline staff etc are at risk that they be identified and moved positions of less risk ie if have serious underlying illnesses. No issues with unions etc as health care workers will do what’s needs to be done etc and will work together. If redeployment is needed for frontline workers there will be no issues, I can’t speak for clerical etc but from what I have seen I am sure there may be issues

FunkSoulSista · 11-03-2020 11:38pm

Work in admin myself and would be more than happy to help out where needed. I filled out a form detailing my workload/priorities.

Ki ki · 11-03-2020 11:45pm

FunkSoulSista wrote: »

Work in admin myself and would be more than happy to help out where needed. I filled out a form detailing my workload/priorities.

Hi FSS,

Are you already on staff of HSE? And offering to move internally?
I don't work for the HSE but did send an email the other day (to an info address) volunteering my time. I haven't heard anything back yet (edit: I'm sure they're inundated with work, now more so than ever).
Can you share a better way for me to contact?

Thanks so much,
C

P2C · 11-03-2020 11:56pm

My understanding is the unions are on board and anyone who refuses will be dealt with under the HSE grievance procedures. Have to say from talking to colleagues and we are community and non essential the overall majority in my building are happy to roll up their sleeves and do whatever is asked.

touts wrote: »

It will happen. This is the biggest health crisis in the history of the state. Both front line and admin staff will have to be redeployed from what they are currently working on to this crisis. If the unions object or look for more money etc then public opinion will quickly turn savagely against them.

P2C · 12-03-2020 12:02am

There will be no compensation it is existing terms and conditions. My understanding from the circular it is compulsory temporary redeployment so you do not really have an option if requested. We were doing a exercise today identifying skills of our staff group as we would have a few nurses and other ex frontline staff. Who knows what will be required but I say in the shorter contact tracing but if and when thinks get hairy I say cleaning, portering or anything that is requested.

Coralcoras · 14-03-2020 12:41am

A sobering read about pregnancy and coronovirus.

https://mothertobaby.org/fact-sheets/coronaviruses/

1st Trimester: Risk of miscarriage (50%) and birth defects.
2nd and 3rd Trimester: Risk of early labour (approx. 30-40%), stillbirth (approx. 20%) and other complications like poor growth.

This is early days so many of the statistics are based on observations from a relatively small (Covid19-infected) population sample.
Other stats are based on stronger relationships observed during similars viral outbreaks in the past, I.e. SARS and MERS.

My sisters, both of whom work in a face-to-face role with the HSE and are pregnant, are in complete limbo regarding current/expected working conditions.

There’s a lot of mention in the media about the vulnerability of elderly and immunocompromised citizens, but I’ve heard no mention made of the unborn child. I hope this gets discussed more and want to draw attention to the issue.

MrsBean · 15-03-2020 12:04am

Non-HSE civil servant here. Was asked today by my department to volunteer for redeployment to help on contact tracing in the coming weeks.

billyhead · 15-03-2020 9:30am

MrsBean wrote: »

Non-HSE civil servant here. Was asked today by my department to volunteer for redeployment to help on contact tracing in the coming weeks.

Likewise

P2C · 15-03-2020 9:35am

I am pretty certain pregnant mothers are a high risk group. Your sisters should contact their line manager to make alternative working arrangements and if not happy with the outcome go directly to occupational health or HR.

Coralcoras wrote: »

A sobering read about pregnancy and coronovirus.

https://mothertobaby.org/fact-sheets/coronaviruses/

1st Trimester: Risk of miscarriage (50%) and birth defects.
2nd and 3rd Trimester: Risk of early labour (approx. 30-40%), stillbirth (approx. 20%) and other complications like poor growth.

This is early days so many of the statistics are based on observations from a relatively small (Covid19-infected) population sample.
Other stats are based on stronger relationships observed during similars viral outbreaks in the past, I.e. SARS and MERS.

My sisters, both of whom work in a face-to-face role with the HSE and are pregnant, are in complete limbo regarding current/expected working conditions.

There’s a lot of mention in the media about the vulnerability of elderly and immunocompromised citizens, but I’ve heard no mention made of the unborn child. I hope this gets discussed more and want to draw attention to the issue.

FunkSoulSista · 15-03-2020 9:46am

Ki ki wrote: »

Hi FSS,

Are you already on staff of HSE? And offering to move internally?
I don't work for the HSE but did send an email the other day (to an info address) volunteering my time. I haven't heard anything back yet (edit: I'm sure they're inundated with work, now more so than ever).
Can you share a better way for me to contact?

Thanks so much,
C

I have seen a few non HSE staff offering to help which is great but not sure how they would arrange it?

FunkSoulSista · 15-03-2020 9:49am

Coralcoras wrote: »

A sobering read about pregnancy and coronovirus.

https://mothertobaby.org/fact-sheets/coronaviruses/

1st Trimester: Risk of miscarriage (50%) and birth defects.
2nd and 3rd Trimester: Risk of early labour (approx. 30-40%), stillbirth (approx. 20%) and other complications like poor growth.

This is early days so many of the statistics are based on observations from a relatively small (Covid19-infected) population sample.
Other stats are based on stronger relationships observed during similars viral outbreaks in the past, I.e. SARS and MERS.

My sisters, both of whom work in a face-to-face role with the HSE and are pregnant, are in complete limbo regarding current/expected working conditions.

There’s a lot of mention in the media about the vulnerability of elderly and immunocompromised citizens, but I’ve heard no mention made of the unborn child. I hope this gets discussed more and want to draw attention to the issue.

I would suggest they speak to their line managers? Or could their doctors sign them off if there is a medical risk?

Daisies · 15-03-2020 10:51am

FunkSoulSista wrote: »

I have seen a few non HSE staff offering to help which is great but not sure how they would arrange it?

I'm a current civil servant with a background in public health, how would I go about offering to help?

Gael23 · 15-03-2020 10:56am

I imagine DSP will need admin staff to help with arrangements should post offices close.
Unions will be broken beyond repair if they stand in the way

Musefan · 15-03-2020 10:59am

Psychologist here, section 39 organisation providing services on behalf of the HSE. Expect to hear about redeployment on Monday. Not sure to what though. I’ve skills in relation to staff support, phone counselling, online therapies, medication compliance and medical trauma with both adults & kids so hoping to be of use.

cee_jay · 15-03-2020 4:41pm

I know a couple of people from 2 different government departments who were contacted this weekend to work on contact tracing from Monday.
DEASP will need a lot of extra resources too, and more and more departments and staff will be contacted this week coming.

antimatterx · 15-03-2020 4:57pm

Augeo wrote: »

They'll undoubtedly look for some compensation.

Why do public sector workers/unions object to every little change in general? If this was the private sector, you'd be on your arse!

Whereisgalway · 15-03-2020 5:04pm

Musefan wrote: »

Psychologist here, section 39 organisation providing services on behalf of the HSE. Expect to hear about redeployment on Monday. Not sure to what though. I’ve skills in relation to staff support, phone counselling, online therapies, medication compliance and medical trauma with both adults & kids so hoping to be of use.

Ya any good at cleaning arses? Or would you object if it was part of your redeployment

somesoldiers · 15-03-2020 5:10pm

Family member is an EHO and has been working at call centers & will be screening at the airport tomorrow

Galadriel · 15-03-2020 5:17pm

Not everyone in my office will be able to work remotely, that means about half the staff will be sitting at home doing nothing and getting paid for it (if the office closes down).

I really hope these people are redeployed, some are already gloating about their 'free time off', sickening in a crisis like this.

Addle · 15-03-2020 5:24pm

Who is getting paid? Not in my dept.
Shift work introduced so that those who have to care for their children can work around it.

Galadriel · 15-03-2020 5:28pm

Addle wrote: »

Who is getting paid? Not in my dept.
Shift work introduced so that those who have to care for their children can work around it.

I thought they would continue to pay full time employees? that's what we heard.

I'm not talking about child care arrangements, I am talking about if the offices are told to close.

15-03-2020 5:33pm

antimatterx wrote: »

Why do public sector workers/unions object to every little change in general? If this was the private sector, you'd be on your arse!

What have they objected too? This is all in your head.

MrsBean · 15-03-2020 7:05pm

Deleted User wrote: »

What have they objected too? This is all in your head.

Any chance to get a dig in it seems. Giving out about civil servants on a thread where people are talking about their redeployment during a crisis and offering their services to help. The mind boggles.

Musefan · 15-03-2020 10:15pm

Whereisgalway wrote: »

Ya any good at cleaning arses? Or would you object if it was part of your redeployment

I’m not really sure what your message is getting at? Where did I give an indication that I would object to something?

Mrs OBumble · 16-03-2020 10:32am

Musefan wrote: »

I’m not really sure what your message is getting at? Where did I give an indication that I would object to something?

Some posters have chip on both shoulders and are best ignored

eastie17 · 16-03-2020 10:39am

MrsBean wrote: »

Any chance to get a dig in it seems. Giving out about civil servants on a thread where people are talking about their redeployment during a crisis and offering their services to help. The mind boggles.

Boards should start handing out bans straight away for clowns like that who always want to have a go.
I'd love to see something done to the complete ****wits who go to the trouble of recording elaborate voicenotes to scare the ****e out of 70 year olds on whatsapp about the army guarding the shops etc etc.

Mind you the people who forward them are nearly worse. Some of them who have forwarded nonsense in the last 24 hours I actually would regard as friends and thought they had some brains.

solidasarock · 16-03-2020 12:52pm

I am a CO in a government department. Friday afternoon HR sent a email saying we may be asked to transfer to other areas if needed. This morning I have been asked to put my name forward as available be assigned for contact tracing if needed.

The work will still be done in my office at my desk. And would be shift work any time between 8am and 10pm.

I am more then happy to do what I can.

Gael23 · 16-03-2020 1:15pm

Teachers should be asked to help with administration of social welfare forms

History Queen · 16-03-2020 1:20pm

Gael23 wrote: »

Teachers should be asked to help with administration of social welfare forms

I agree, I'm a teacher and would be glad to help once I'm allowed the class time for my third and sixth year classes as I don't want to leave them completely without in terms of teaching.

Gael23 · 16-03-2020 1:32pm

History Queen wrote: »

I agree, I'm a teacher and would be glad to help once I'm allowed the class time for my third and sixth year classes as I don't want to leave them completely without in terms of teaching.

What is the position on exam years? Are they going ahead as things stand

Ap2020 · 16-03-2020 1:34pm

solidasarock wrote: »

I am a CO in a government department. Friday afternoon HR sent a email saying we may be asked to transfer to other areas if needed. This morning I have been asked to put my name forward as available be assigned for contact tracing if needed.

The work will still be done in my office at my desk. And would be shift work any time between 8am and 10pm.

I am more then happy to do what I can.

Fair play.

I've also asked to be reassigned to wherever they need me. I'm told hundreds of civil servants have already been reassigned, many to contract tracing.

If you look at the countries that have had the most success in preventing infections, armies of contact tracers have been essential.

History Queen · 16-03-2020 2:36pm

Gael23 wrote: »

What is the position on exam years? Are they going ahead as things stand

Haven't heard anything one way or the other. I mean officially schools are only closed until march 29th, but I think it is fair to say most most people expect extended closure.

dory · 17-03-2020 12:39am

Gael23 wrote: »

Teachers should be asked to help with administration of social welfare forms

Yup, loads of teachers are ready and willing to go. Over 3000 teachers/childcare workers are on a FB group offering free childcare to front line workers.

I'm a teacher, would happily do some contact tracing or admin work.

Nody · 17-03-2020 8:16am

Coralcoras wrote: »

A sobering read about pregnancy and coronovirus.

https://mothertobaby.org/fact-sheets/coronaviruses/

1st Trimester: Risk of miscarriage (50%) and birth defects.
2nd and 3rd Trimester: Risk of early labour (approx. 30-40%), stillbirth (approx. 20%) and other complications like poor growth.

This is early days so many of the statistics are based on observations from a relatively small (Covid19-infected) population sample.
Other stats are based on stronger relationships observed during similars viral outbreaks in the past, I.e. SARS and MERS.

My sisters, both of whom work in a face-to-face role with the HSE and are pregnant, are in complete limbo regarding current/expected working conditions.

There’s a lot of mention in the media about the vulnerability of elderly and immunocompromised citizens, but I’ve heard no mention made of the unborn child. I hope this gets discussed more and want to draw attention to the issue.

Mod:
If you're going to make a claim as a fact you better back it up instead of quoting made up numbers from Facebook; your link does not back up any claim you make. From the link you've provided:

Does having COVID-19 during pregnancy increase the chance for miscarriage?

Miscarriage can occur in any pregnancy. Studies have not been done to see if having COVID-19 during pregnancy could increase the chance of miscarriage.

Does having COVID-19 in the first trimester increase the chance of birth defects?

In every pregnancy, a woman starts out with a 3-5% chance of having a baby with a birth defect. This is called her background risk. There are no published studies on COVID-19 in pregnancy and birth defects.

A high fever in the first trimester can increase the chance of certain birth defects (see MotherToBaby’s fact sheet: https://mothertobaby.org/fact-sheets/hyperthermia-pregnancy/). If you get sick with COVID-19 or any other illness and develop a high fever, please speak with your healthcare provider as soon as possible to discuss the best way to lower it.

Does having COVID-19 in the second or third trimester cause other pregnancy complications?

There is limited information about COVID-19 and pregnancy. Experience with other respiratory illnesses such as flu and SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) suggests that pregnant women may be at higher risk of complications if they have a respiratory illness, so prompt management of symptoms is important. Having severe symptoms or complications from any illness might require pregnant women to deliver their babies sooner than expected. Preterm delivery (before 37 weeks) can be associated with long-term health problems for babies.

The chance of pregnancy problems for women who have COVID-19 is not known. In limited reports of women with serious symptoms of COVID-19 such as pneumonia during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy, almost all delivered their babies by C-section, and some were delivered preterm. The reasons given for the C-sections included COVID-19 as well as other reasons. A small number of infants who were tested for the virus after delivery all tested negative. More information is needed in order to know how COVID-19 in pregnancy could affect the mother or the baby. CDC information on COVID-19 and pregnancy can be found here.

uck51js9zml2yt · 17-03-2020 1:09pm

Peoplepoint have said 800 people have been redeployed so far.

ThewhiteJesus · 18-03-2020 2:17pm

i work in the hse, admin and i have to say the management in our office alone is farcical,
we had an employee comeback from France on saturday, ring the manager to ask if she should go to work or not monday
and was told yes or you won't be paid, so now we're probably all infected, and when we complained this lady is now in isolation.
Our doors are locked so you have to use the dirty card and open every dirty door to get in,
even though we have porters and security at the door,
we were forced to have a meeting of about 25 in a tiny section on friday,
again i pointed this was going against all advice,
and again told, sure what do you expect us to do ?
It's a joke

18-03-2020 2:24pm

That's crazy, I'm in a MNC and no staff who've been abroad in last 14 days can come in.

yabadabado · 19-03-2020 12:55pm

Leah Witty Rabies wrote: »

Peoplepoint have said 800 people have been redeployed so far.

Has that been announced or just going through the grapevine?

Looked on peoplepoint website and nothing updated since Monday.

Ap2020 · 19-03-2020 1:20pm

yabadabado wrote: »

Has that been announced or just going through the grapevine?

Looked on peoplepoint website and nothing updated since Monday.

It was 800 on Saturday, according to the CEO of the HSE, Paul Reid.

Can't post the link to his tweet as I'm new, but that's where he confirmed it.

Sultan_of_Ping · 19-03-2020 1:20pm

Augeo wrote: »

They'll undoubtedly look for some compensation.

Sorry to disappoint you, but of the chunk of people who volunteered where I work, and the chunk of people who volunteered where my partner works - no one once mentioned any kind of compensation.

My impression is that the HSE is overwhelmed with volunteers - even in our place the only discord being voiced was by people who were being tagged as "essential" and therefore the organisation was not releasing them. Even after that, people were coming back with proposals to work both sides - mornings to early afternoon in our place, then go do a few hours helping out into the evening.

No one making their help conditional.

And pretty much a similar story in the organisation my partner works in.

AulWan · 19-03-2020 1:22pm

yabadabado wrote: »

Has that been announced or just going through the grapevine?

Looked on peoplepoint website and nothing updated since Monday.

This number was given in a communication from my department, too.

Thats just the number who were being redeployed to contact tracing (it may have increased since then).

There was a separate call made for staff to volunteer for temporary transfer to D/Social Protection to process claims. I don't know how many volunteered for that.

Sultan_of_Ping · 19-03-2020 1:27pm

AulWan wrote: »

This number was given in a communication from my department, too.

Thats just the number who were being redeployed to contact tracing (it may have increased since then).

There was a separate call made for staff to volunteer for temporary transfer to D/Social Protection to process claims. I don't know how many volunteered for that.

From what I hear there's a questionnaire about to be circulated that volunteers will be asked to fill in - the info provided will then be used to call people up to help where they are needed.

yabadabado · 19-03-2020 1:43pm

How did people volunteer?

AulWan · 19-03-2020 1:57pm

yabadabado wrote: »

How did people volunteer?

In my department HR just asked for anyone who wanted to volunteer to contact HR.

Riskymove · 19-03-2020 2:28pm

Sultan_of_Ping wrote: »

From what I hear there's a questionnaire about to be circulated that volunteers will be asked to fill in - the info provided will then be used to call people up to help where they are needed.

that will be the more formal redeployment scheme
first you are identified as being releasable by your Org - it is not a volunteer led process

Then you will get a link to the PAS system and they will oversee allocating staff as required

The earlier call for volunteers for HSE Contact tracing is less formal and involved volunteers emailing their HR

I also understand that Social protection looked for volunteers, particularly people who used to work there and would know processes to return for a while to assist

HSE redeployment of staff Coronavirus

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