Sunday, February 26, 2006By Aileen O’Meara
The Health Service Executive (HSE) has ordered its staff to stop referring to the old health boards in all future communications with the public, more than a year after the boards were abolished.
In an indication of continuing confusion about the HSE’s administrative structures, the new so-called ‘naming practice’ states that, in answering phones and replying to correspondence, staff should no longer mention the old health board areas, or use the word ‘‘region’’.
Instead, staff must refer only to the four new administrative areas: HSE West, HSE South, HSE Dublin Mid-Leinster and HSE Dublin North-East.
In an e-mail circulated last week, called: ‘‘What’s in a name?”, the head of internal communications, Stephen McGrath, said: ‘‘It is no longer appropriate to refer to your former health board area as HSE Mid-Western area. It should be referred to as HSE West. Another example would be the HSE Midlands which should be referred to as HSE Dublin Mid-Leinster.”
An explanatory note at the end of the e-mail reminds staff how the four administrative areas are divided. HSE West comprises the former HSE Mid-Western area, Western area and North Western area.
HSE South covers the former HSE Southern area and HSE South Eastern area.
HSE Dublin Mid-Leinster covers the former HSE Midland, HSE South Western area and HSE East Coast area. HSE Dublin North East covers the former HSE North Eastern Area and HSE Northern area.
‘‘There’s still a general confusion among the public about the HSE and the old health boards,” said Kevin Callinan, general secretary of the health division of Impact, the trade union.
‘‘It proves what we were saying throughout 2004 - that the health service wasn’t ready and the abolition of the health boards shouldn’t have proceeded as fast as it did.
‘‘It’s a massively complex service with over 100,000 staff, and it didn’t help that we lost virtually the whole of the first year when the chief executive appointment was delayed.”
Last December, the HSE modified the top level of its organisational structure to create more clarity and consistency. It changed the original plan for ten local hospital networks to eight hospital groups - two for each administrative area.
At the same time, the primary and community care service is administered through 32 local health offices.
Logos for local health boards and stationery are gradually being changed to reflect the four administrative areas and the new structures in the Health Service Executive.
