Anger at €250k spend on HSE staff magazine
Independent councillor Ann Norton, a disability rights campaigner and mother of a special needs teenager, described as “crazy money” the amount the HSE spent on Health Matters in 2015 and 2016.
Ms Norton, a member of the HSE West Health Forum and Clare County Council, described the annual spend as “a complete and utter waste of taxpayers’ money”.
“Instead of producing magazines, the HSE should be using its resources on caring for the sick,” she said.
The spending was revealed to Fianna Fáil TD John McGuinness in a letter from senior HSE official Mary Brodie on foot of a Dáil question on the costs involved.
In her letter, Ms Brodie said the magazine had been produced in its current format since March 2015 following a comprehensive procurement process.
“In 2015 and 2016, a total of eight editions were produced at a net cost to the HSE of €251,790,” she said.
“This includes the cost of a professional editor provided by the supplier of the service, layout and design, distribution, and the production of an ezine circulated to all staff on email.”
The magazine is also printed, with a circulation of just under 20,000 copies.
Ms Brodie said the HSE has more than 100,000 staff and “providing reliable and trusted information and updates to and from our staff is an essential part of our role as an employer”.
“In a very diverse workforce, where many thousands of our teams work without regular access to computers due to their caring roles, a printed magazine plays a central role in team engagement and communications,” said Ms Brodie.
Health Matters “also has an important role in motivating staff to continually strive to provide the best possible service to the public”, she said.
“The magazine informs staff of the many changes under way in the health services at the present time. It is particularly important to keep staff informed during times of significant change. The publication also serves to recognise and celebrate staff achievements.
“The content for the magazine is generated mainly by health staff, who submit articles and photographs on a voluntary basis prior to each edition.
"Staff are not paid for the articles they write. Staff members also volunteer to distribute the publication within their own work areas and locations.”
However, Ms Norton said the HSE was not there to provide magazines for staff, but to provide patient care.
She contrasted the annual €125,000 spend on the magazine with “the song and dance the HSE made about providing a €600 drug for intrathecal baclofen therapy for my daughter Nicole late last year”.
Nicole Norton is 19 and has cerebral palsy.
Ms Norton is a director of the Clare Crusaders Clinic, which does not receive any HSE funding and needs to fundraise €250,000 each year to provide its therapies to more than 500 children.
She said that, for €125,000 a year, Clare Crusaders could hire three more therapists to provide an additional 117 hours of therapies a week.
There was no reason why the magazine should also be printed, she said, “as the vast majority of HSE staff would have email addresses”.
A spokeswoman for the HSE said Ms Brodie’s letter addresses the issues raised and explains the ongoing commitment by the HSE to the magazine.
