The rate of sick days taken by HSE staff rose in December in the wake of Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s controversial lecture on hospital workers’ absenteeism and annual leave over the festive period.
Absenteeism rates across the health service increased that month to 4.8pc – up from 4.5pc in November.
Mr Varadkar drew the wrath of health workers after he told the Dáil in early November that it was time the hospitals operated “at full whack” over the Christmas holiday period to try to control the trolley crisis.
He also warned that consultants and nurses must not take their annual leave in the first fortnight in January.
“No bed should be closed because people are on leave. The emergency department and medical consultants should be there,” he said.
The Taoiseach’s comments came amid fears of another post-Christmas surge in trolley gridlock.
Nurses’ and doctors’ unions accused him at the time of trying to divert from the real problems – the lack of beds and staff.
The HSE’s figures for December show within hospitals the proportion of nurses on sick leave increased to 5.1pc, compared with 4.8pc in November.
