Staff Update March 13th

Written on 13/03/2020

Dear Colleagues,  

As I’m sure you are all aware Ireland is now moving to the next phase in dealing with Covid-19, a phase referred to as the delayed phase.

Yesterday the Government introduced specific measures to deal with this phase including social distancing, closure of crèches, schools and colleges along with increased awareness of personal hygiene and protecting our most vulnerable groups. The HSE has secured 430 million Euro from the Government to increase supports to the Hospital system, Community settings, National Ambulance Service and Social Care. 

Our dedicated crisis teams continue to plan for the care of the public who will need essential services in the coming days and weeks.  

I want again to sincerely thank all our dedicated staff who are going the extra distance to ensure we are taking every measure to reduce the impact and spread of Covid-19. I am very proud to be Chief Officer of such a strong, dedicated and unified team.



Latest Coronavirus Updates for Staff 

A message from Paul Reid, CEO HSE 


Where to get reliable information:

At a time when there’s a lot of confusion and even misinformation, it’s important that we get our information only from reliable sources.

That’s why the new national webpage with information for staff is so valuable.

Click here to access that coronavirus information for staff For both ourselves as staff and the general public, many of our questions can be answered on hse.ie/coronavirus. 

There is additional useful information for health service staff on www.hpsc.ie.



Tips for parents at home with their children

Parents have suddenly found themselves at home with their children for the next 2 weeks, here are some helpful tips:

Take some time to think about a routine for the day – children do best when their day is somewhat predictable. 

Incorporate some activities that you do with your children as this will increase the time they will engage in activities. 

Don’t be afraid to use television/ Netflix etc – these are exceptional times – there are lots of interesting programmes on, children’s programmes for all ages have lots of great life lessons for children – they deal with friendships/different feelings etc While learning by experience is great, watching how other people manage situations can be helpful too.  

Don’t be afraid to use social media – with supervision you can set up your child to be able to communicate with their friends through different games or apps. Many apps had privacy and security settings that mean that they cannot communicate in general. This allows to them to keep in touch and have social interaction and fun. 

Revisit the faithfuls – card games, charades, Monopoly, Cludo. 

Two lovely homework suggestions

Keep a nature Diary – this means that you and your children go for a walk every day, even for half an hour. You do the same walk and make note of what you see, smell, hear, you might then draw pictures or take a photo write about it when you get home. This is so mindful that you and your children will be grounded at the sight of how things are really still fine, plants are growing, spring is coming etc  If you are working from home it means that you will spend half an hour fully focused on your child and give yourself a breather as you too will be isolated from the normal support system. 

Keep a daily diary about your experience during Covid 19 – this is an experience that is out of the ordinary, keeping a diary will be a record that they will be able to share with their children grandchildren in the way that our grandparents might have shared their diaries too. It also allows the child to express how they are experiencing it and then sharing this with their parents.  Schools might be interested in pulling these stories together in the future. 

Siân Harris, Senior Clinical Psychologist 


Childcare and Working Challenges:

The closure of schools and childcare facilities is going to place pressure on some of you.

Families, households and communities all over the Mid West are now arranging to make sure that that healthcare workers are prioritised and can continue to work, and we thank you for this.

We need to ask you to consider every practical childcare arrangement so that our vital health services can be prioritised and protected. 

Full details on leave below https://healthservice.hse.ie/staff/news/coronavirus/leavearrangements-associated-with-covid-19-infection-during-thecontainment-phase.html  

Please note that any leave to facilitate childcare arrangements must be signed off by your Head of Service.


HSE Values in Action 

Remember one of our 9 Behaviours 

We are proud of the efforts we have seen so far, and we

ACKNOWLEDGE THE WORK OF YOUR COLLEAGUES


When ordinary people decide to step out and be part of something big, that's when they become extraordinary.

- Brett Harris

#WeAreOurValues


Key Contacts for Staff