The Minister for Health has pledged that Secretary General Michael Scanlan and his management team will address the shortcomings identified in the hard-hitting Organisational Review Programme (ORP) report into the Department of Health.
Describing Scanlan as one of the most ‘dynamic public servants of his generation’, Minister Mary Harney told the Dáil last week (March 3) that the Secretary General would tackle the reported imbalance in workloads of staff at Hawkins House.
The unpublished ORP report, details of which were leaked last month, pointed to an organisation where some staff have ‘little or nothing to do’, while others are ‘overwhelmed’ with work.
“That is not an acceptable position from management’s perspective and the Secretary General and his team intend to deal with that,” said Minister Harney during priority questions last week.
Prepared by the Department of the Taoiseach, the ORP is part of a broad process of modernisation and reform of the public service, the purpose of which is to assess the overall capability of departments and agencies to meet future challenges.
The review has been under way for the past year and included extensive consultations with senior management, staff and the Department’s external stakeholders.
Often feeling ‘under siege’ and engaging in fire-fighting measures, staff reported having low morale, and were critical of the amount of political work they have to carry out. Senior management were ‘out of step’ on many issues, the report added.
Commenting on its findings, Minister Harney said the report drew attention to the need for the Department to have a different skill-set such as economic analysis and analytical skills in general. “I share that view,” she stated. She also stressed that the number of staff in the Department had reduced by 25 per cent since the Health Service Executive was established.
The Department is currently preparing an action plan setting out its response to the ORP conclusions, after which the full report will be published.
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