The Battle For Bernagh House Begins

22 January 2012 |

Posted by Jim Masson |

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AT a public meeting in the St Patrick Centre in Downpatrick on the consultation for the ‘Model and Location of Shared Services’ within the health system, a major row has escalated as local health workers, their families and friends, and politicians united to oppose the proposal to move 33 administrative jobs from Bernagh House at the Downshire Hospital to Ballymena.

Whilst almost all of the seats were occupied, complaints filled the air about the meeting not having been adequately and publicly advertised in the local media. Even before the presentation and question time began, South Down MP Margaret Ritchie quickly challenged the two-person panel on the legitimacy of the meeting. Ms Ritchie said, “The staff concerned are already very angry with this consultation process. Why was this meeting not properly advertised in the local media? If it had been, their families, friends and co-workers could have had the opportunity to fully support them.”

Julie Thompson, Deputy Secretary of the DHSSPS responded saying that the proposal was to set up six new centres across Northern Ireland. She explained that meetings had been held across Northern Ireland, that 700 letters had been sent out in total inviting stakeholders to participate in the consultation, and staff meetings too had taken place. Also, meetings had been held with Councils and the devolved government and trade unions and church groups and other stakeholder groups. Also, the proposal was on the website.

http://dhsspsni.gov.uk/index/consultations/currentconsultations.htm

www.bstp.hscni.net (view consultation details).

Also presenting at the meeting was Shane Devlin, Programme Director for the Business Services Transformation Programme (BSTB) which has the task of managing the consultation process.

In a statement from the BSTB issued prior to the meeting, it stated that the aims of the change were to “modernize systems and deliver a better shared services’ model. This programme is of work will improve efficiency and effectiveness through new technology, saving time and money for reinvestment to the front line where it is needed most. Changes are being co-ordinated through Trust teams. The Shared Services proposed preferred option draws on the availability of existing staff with appropriate skills combined for value for money.”

When the plans were announced originally in February 2009 in a Stormont press release, former Health Minister Michael McGimpsey said, “These arrangements will mean at least 80 per cent of staff will remain in their current position.” The proposed changes are the final stages of the Review of Public Administration designed to overhaul local and regional government and administration in Northern Ireland looking for benefits of cost savings and efficiency. However, the staff at Bernagh House maintain it will lead to full voluntary redundancies and questionable efficiencies.

The mood of the meeting rejected the basic proposal and speaker after speaker from the floor said that none of the 33 staff at Bernagh House (7 men and 26 women) will accept traveling on a daily basis to a new workplace as far away as Ballymena. The dye is set for confrontation.

Shane Devlin, DSCT Director explained regarding the continuity of jobs that “the programme was determined to deliver change in a managed and structured way. The same RPA rules apply and that employers will take every step to avoid compulsory redundancy. Also, Staff have the right to follow their job where it is relocated. There will be maximum opportunities for redeployment where vacancies occur and staff will be transferred in a phased approach.”

Bernagh House Workers Oppose Consultation Proposals

Speaking to Down News after the meeting, a spokesperson for the 33 staff explained that they felt the consultation was being run “very unprofessionally” and that the meeting was in fact “not a proper public meeting”.

The spokesperson said, “There was a lot of passion present on the night from the workers and we feel in retrospect that we did not get answers to our questions when put forward. For example, they had not completed a postcode analysis in evaluating the distribution of staff across the Trust work areas. So how can they effectively assess the viability of asking staff to move for efficiency reasons?

“And why is Newtownards included in the Belfast Metropolitan area when it is part of the South Eastern HSC Trust system? The criteria and boundaries have been altered to disadvantage the Downpatrick workers’ position over the proposed relocation to Ballymena of the Finance Department. It was further questioned why with a total of 48 staff in Down in the payments section and only 45 currently in Ballymena that the new centre is not being located at the existing Downshire Hospital site which is an official award winning centre.

“According to our understanding, we have a legal responsibility to ensure payments are made within 30 days under the ‘prompt payment policy’ and the Northern Trust in the consultation process has not submitted its figures on its performance in this area. So how can a decision be fair if information is not complete?

“Each one of the five Trust areas should have been accommodating a centre of expertise. Principle 3 of the Consultation document has been broken. This model of centres as proposed is inherently flawed. It is unreasonable to ask workers to travel this distance daily to go to their work and we are all looking at being forced to accept voluntary redundancy which is just not acceptable.

“We feel that this decision has been politically motivated and we are very angry that our jobs have been put in jeopardy. It was reassuring that we received cross-party support from our local politicians who we hope to take this matter to the Council chamber and Stormont and Parliament if need be.”

Fundamentally, the staff maintains that it is not relocation to a new centre that will lead to an increased efficiency but this may be achieved by the introduction of improved systems including ICT. And added to their litany of complaints and criticisms about the proposals and the manner in which the consultation process is being conducted, they added that they believe there are significant Section 75 (Equality) issues that need to be addressed (such as the impact on females, those with disability and those with dependants.)

Down Community Health Committee Back The Workers

Dick Shannon MBE and Eamonn McGrady, respective chairpersons of the Ardglass and District Health Support Group and the Down Community Health Committee, have expressed their unqualified support for the Finance Department workers currently based at the Downshire Hospital in Downpatrick.

Mr Shannon added, "We find it hard to believe that there can be significant cost savings associated with the stripping of these jobs from Downpatrick. One would have thought that modern technology would mean that Finance work could be done from remote locations so why are these jobs being moved? We have not yet seen convincing arguments for these changes.

"We share the reservations expressed about these changes and the consultation process expressed publicly at Thursday night's meeting and call for a further well advertised public consultation meeting to take place in Downpatrick at the earliest possible date. We believe that the entire local community is united behind these workers", he added.

Concerns Expressed From The Floor At The Meeting

South Down MP Margaret Ritchie said (addressing the panel), “This document should be consigned to the dustbin.

“This consultation has been predicated by a political action and you have been duplicitous. We have a centre for public administration in Downpatrick with the purpose of accommodating the NIHE, PSNI, SERC, Down District Council as well as the Downe Hospital… the public will not accept your decision if the jobs at Bernagh House have been purposefully redirected.

“Why should people not be traveling to Downpatrick to work? So many already travel out of this area for work. There is capacity in the new hub for work. The staff in Downpatrick are providing an excellent service and there is little evidence to support the need to move jobs out. The South East area needs a critical hub to encourage balanced development. This must be addressed. It is time to go back to the drawing board and correct any regional imbalances.”

Paddy Fleming (Bernagh House worker): “There needs to be a balance in public sector jobs across Northern Ireland. Taking jobs away from this area is flawed. This is an opportunity to take jobs to Downpatrick. We should be looking at that. There is discrimination being directed at this area. I hope the politicians all take up this matter. And we believe that more could be done with technology to ensure that the jobs do stay on Downpatrick.”

Councillor Willie Clarke, South Down MLA: “Jobs are being threatened across all sections of South Down. People are basically sick of this. Many of the personnel in Bernagh House are younger women with families and it is not right to expect them to travel all the way to Ballymena for a job. Traveling will likely be 3 ½ hours and this will have a huge impact on family life. They all live in a rural area of Co Down. This is a very important issue that needs looked at. If these women lose their jobs it will affect their mortgages, families and maybe even their marriages.

”The South Eastern HSC Trust has been involved with other agencies such as Down District Council in trying to develop a hub at the Downshire Estate and now it looks as though the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing. Government is not joined up and this is just not acceptable. “

Staff member in Audience 1: “This matter of the displacement of jobs is being very poorly handled. The criteria are just not clear enough. My understanding is that the balance of personnel between Ballymena and Downpatrick is about 50:50 and this whole business just looks like the first step to a future privatisation of our services.”

Staff member in Audience 2: “This is not a meaningful consultation. The consultation document is fundamentally flawed.”

Down Councillor Colin McGrath: “This consultation has clearly flagged up a preferred option. We see out local staff getting awards for the work they are doing, and we have the Downshire site which is being developed as a hub and is not included in the list of properties suitable for use. We once again are looking at a situation where there will be less jobs in Downpatrick.

“No-one is going to travel to Ballymena for a job. It is going to cost money to fix up the proposed premises in Ballymena. It flies in the face of your consultation in not selecting Downpatrick with is excellent work force. This is unfair. This consultation needs to go back to the drawing board.

“If you need to come up with six centres of excellence then one should certainly be located in Downpatrick. You say that the recommendation is to look at all of your existing properties in order to keep the cost down, but you just have not looked at the Downshire Estate as an option.”

Jim Wells, South Down MLA: “Why are we taking jobs from Downpatrick to Ballymena? Surely with all the modern technology we have we can achieve the same results in Downpatrick. There is no reason to have a whole department in the one location.

“These workers will have to fight their way through the traffic in Belfast and on to Ballymena. No-one from the Downpatrick area wants to go up there to work.”

Councillor Liam Johnston, Down District Council Vice-Chairman: “I am a councilor covering a recognized area of deprivation close to the Downshire Estate. We have had many battles over the years to fight our corner. Now it looks as though we could be losing jobs through the back door. Can we not get the Trusts to get their acts together?

“Where’s the equality in all of this? The consultation document says it will make a saving of £17 million but what about the cost of retraining all of those staff? I think the decision has been made already.”

Staff member in Audience 3: “We are being kept in the dark like mushrooms”.

Staff member in Audience 4: “Why is there reticence about the fact that there will be no compulsory redundancies? The previous Health Minister gave his commitment and this is now being turned around.”

Councillor Patsy Toman: “There has to be a level playingfield. We must be taken seriously here in South Down. We need an assurance that our time is now being wasted in this process. It certainly looks as though the deal is done.”

Councillor Walter Lyons: “I must congratulate you for managing to unite all of the political parties in the room. We are totally united in sympathy with the workers.”

Councillor John Doris: “I want to know why these workers are really being sacked. Traveling to Ballymena does not come into it to pursue their jobs. I think you will end up short of properly trained staff and your costs will rise.”

Marion Ritchie (Unison representative): “Across Northern Ireland the Trusts have a number of Health and Social Care Departments and other associate bodies. Once shared services are achieved the make-up of this will be 10-11 for the Belfast Trust, 4-5 for the Northern Trust, Southern Trust and Western Trust, and none for the South Eastern Trust.

The Patient Client Council set up in Newtownards to cover the South East Trust area is not yet functioning as in other Trusts and you need to stop massaging the figures.”

There were many questions asked from the audience in the consultation meeting lasting over one and a half hours. The mood of the staff and politics and supporters ranged from angry, dismayed, dumbfounded to absolute disbelief that 33 jobs could be removed without adequate criteria in place as the floor of the full meeting unanimously voiced.

Public opinion will galvanise against this proposal once the cold reality percolates through the community. And it is quite likely that a judicial review may even emerge as a stratagem to block this policy decision proposing that the 33 admin jobs be removed to Ballymena. There are a number of procedural issues raised by the audience, equality issues and also issues relating to the business case for the efficiency recommendations. There is much to argue about around this whole consultation process and it may erupt into a full blown political fist fight going to Stormont and possibly beyond.

Unison’s Position

On 6 January Unison trade union representatives met with Human Resource Directors of the six Hospital Trusts to discuss the implementation implications of the Shared Services Policy.

Down News has learned that Unison presented their case reiterating that there is no business case to support ‘compulsory re-location’.

Further to this, the Unison request to allow a technology solution to be part of a solution was not agreed by the HR Management. This effectively means that the present admin unit at Bernagh House is not allowed to function in future restructuring as part of a system of integrated Information and Communication Technology which is seen by staff as a possible option to save their jobs. The proposal is to provide a new main centre in Ballymena.

The union has requested that the principle of no compulsory redundancies be accepted before further negotiations proceed, and that equality impact assessments be fully carried out and discussed with the union side before negotiations continue.

In late 2010, Unison had met with the First Minister Peter Robinson and requested that the Shared Services agenda be scrapped given the difficult economic climate. However, although the First Minister agreed to give this serious consideration, no response has been received by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions to date.

Unison has also sought further clarification on the Equality Impact Assessment as the Bain Report has indicated that the issue of job was a significant issue. Unison feels that Bain has been ignored by the BDO.

There are also indications that across the Northern Ireland area that equality issues are coming to the fore especially on grounds of gender and religion.

And added to this, Unison indicated that Section 75 of the equality legislation has not been fully complied with as no alternative has been proposed. It is believed that the costs associated with this project will further add to the difficulties within the health care system and its budget.

The consultation process will be running until 29 February 2011.