‘Decreased’ dependency on management consultants for NCHD issues — HSE

HSE engagement of management consultancy support on NCHD employment issues remains in place but has “decreased”, according to the Executive.
However, the HSE’s spokesperson did not respond to queries on the specific level of ongoing management consultancy support or the costs involved.
As previously reported in the Medical Independent (MI), management consultants from Ernst and Young (EY) were contracted by the HSE to progress recommendations to improve NCHD training and working conditions made in the MacCraith review, which examined medical training and career structure.
According to information obtained from the HSE following a Freedom of Information request, 3.5 management consultants were appointed in late February 2018 for an initial period of three months. “EY were engaged on an initial three-month contract to establish a programmatic approach to support delivery of these recommendations,” according to a business case proposing continuation of the consultancy arrangement.
The HSE’s National Doctors Training and Planning (NDTP) unit and Programme for Health Service Improvement (PHSI) did not “have capacity or resources to deliver on these recommendations unsupported”, stated the business case.
Last month, a spokesperson for the Executive told MI: “The HSE is committed to continued implementation of The Strategic Review of Medical Training and Career Structures 2014 (MacCraith Report). The HSE has engaged EY to provide support to a team of HSE officers and stakeholders. The work of the joint project group is focused on four major areas of work: (i) Protected training time; (ii) non-core task allocation; (iii) the reimbursement of education-related fees, and (iv) the issue of service posts.”
The implementation monitoring group publishes six-monthly reports regarding progress on recommendations, added the spokesperson.
“The level of management consultancy support required has decreased since the start of the programme as additional capacity within the HSE has been identified,” they commented.