Working in the HSE
What are the main occupation types employed?
There are a broad range of occupations in the HSE. We aim to develop our workforce so that it reflects the diversity of the people who use the HSE’s services, with ample opportunity for progression and upskilling. There are a variety of roles on offer for Leaving Certificate holders, college graduates and professionals with different levels of experience and interests.
The types of careers come under 6 categories
- Medical and Dental
- Management and Administrative
- Nursing and Midwifery
- Health and Social Care Professionals
- General Support
- Patient and Client Care
Medical and Dental: Positions in the medical/dental area include Medical Consultants, Non-Consultant Hospital Doctors, Public Health Doctors, Medical Officers, Dental Surgeons and Orthodontists.
Management/Administration/ICT: There is a broad range of careers in this category, from Finance to General Administration, Human Resources, Health Promotion, Corporate Affairs and ICT.
Nursing and Midwifery: Within the nursing and midwifery sector, positions may arise for Clinical Nurse Managers, Clinical Nurse Specialists, Staff Nurses, Theatre Nurses, Emergency Nurses, Public Health Nurses and Midwives.
Health and Social Care Professionals: Positions in this area include Dietitians, Speech and Language Therapists, Physiotherapists and Radiographers. HSCPs may be employed in clinical roles at Entry Level, Senior, Clinical Specialist grades and in Management roles which may be discipline-specific.
General Support Staff: The roles in the general support area include Carpenters, Chefs, Electricians, Plumbers, Property Managers, Catering Officers, Pathology Technicians, Medical Laboratory Aide and Technical Services Officers.
Patient and Client Care: These include Emergency Call Takers, Emergency Medical Technicians, Assistants (Speech and Language Therapy, Physiotherapy, Psychology, Multi-Task, Occupational Therapy), Dental Nurses Chaplains, Home Support Service staff, Peer Support Workers, Health Promotion and Improvement Officers, Health Care Assistants and Heads of Bed Management.
What types of work contract are offered?
In the HSE we offer:
- Permanent/Temporary, full and part-time positions
- Sponsorship Programmes
- Apprenticeships
What are the key attractions?
As an employer, our aim is to take care of our employees. Working in a rewarding and challenging career is just one of the many benefits you'll enjoy as a HSE employee. We offer attractive pay and benefits, professional supervision, career support and development opportunities, friendly colleagues, and an excellent quality of life.
As a member of our team you can enjoy:
- Flexible working
- Health and wellbeing supports
- Opportunities and funding for continuous professional development
- Generous annual leave
- Public holiday entitlements
- Permanent contracts of employment
- An attractive public service pension
Competitive salary and increments
For information on online payslips, pay scales, payroll contacts and allowances.
For information about different pension schemes, benefits and terms.
Flexible working and generous leave
For information on different leave types and how to apply for them, including bereavement leave, breastfeeding breaks, carer’s leave, career breaks, parental leave or the Shorter Working Year Scheme, click here.
Opportunities and funding for continuous professional development
We provide many opportunities to further your learning and to progress in your chosen field, including supports to enable you to enhance your professional qualifications with time off to study. Working in the HSE you’ll have access to our staff online training portal HSeLand, our leadership academy, and our coaching programme.
Whether you’re at the start of your career or have already begun your journey, joining the HSE means your personal and professional development will be supported.
Health Service Staff Credit Union
The Health Service Staff Credit Union (HSSCU) offers saving and loan services, current accounts and free online banking to Health Service staff.
Moving to a different country can be costly. To help alleviate some of the initial costs for flights and accommodation, there is a generous relocation package available.
Travel and Subsistence - click here
Cycle to Work Scheme - click here
Mediation Service - click here
Valuing our staff
We value the physical and mental wellbeing of our staff and have a number of initiatives in place to help people feel valued and rewarded in their roles.
Staff Health and Wellbeing Programme
The Staff Health and Wellbeing programme strives to improve staff health and wellbeing by supporting management in creating a healthy workplace where people can thrive and develop. To see some of the initiatives currently in place to enhance workplace health and wellbeing.
Employee Assistance Programme - staff counselling
The HSE Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) is a work-based support service for staff and the organisation. This is a confidential independent service. It supports employees with psychosocial issues (psychological and social factors that influence mental health). These issues may be personal or work-related, affecting your job performance or home life. The service is free and available to all HSE employees.
Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM)
Critical incidents are unexpected events that may have a physical or emotional impact on you. These are unusually challenging or distressing events that overwhelm your normal coping capacity.
Healthcare staff often have to deal with traumatic incidents, including serious assaults in the workplace; death of children; unusual deaths; clinical incidents; road traffic accidents; suicide.
CISM Response help staff who need support following a traumatic incident.
This is not counselling or psychotherapy. It's an emergency mental health intervention, which is a form of psychological first aid.
Health Service Excellence Awards
The annual HSE Health Service Excellence Awards represent an opportunity for staff to share and showcase their innovative and exceptional work. They promote team work, facilitate staff to establish their service as an exemplar and help demonstrate how staff are valued for the work that they do.
What locations do you operate from?
The HSE delivers services nationwide. The HSE has created 6 new health regions. Each region is responsible for providing both hospital and community care for the people in that area.
What are the current employment trends?
The HSE provides a crucial service to the people of Ireland. We are dedicated to working together to ensure a healthier Ireland, with the right care, in the right place, and at the right time
The HSE is growing to deliver on this vision. Fulfilling this role requires a dedicated, qualified healthcare workforce who can deliver this care safely to patients, service users and their families across acute, community and residential settings.
In the past few years, our services have demonstrated incredible commitment and resilience in the most difficult of circumstances, truly living our values of Care, Compassion, Trust and Learning.
The HSE is focused on supporting, retaining, engaging and developing our workforce. However, growing numbers of our colleagues are approaching retirement. This will result in an increased demand for healthcare talent to resource our services safely and sustainably.
Describe any particular characteristics of your workforce?
The HSE is committed to building a positive culture where there is a common sense of purpose and pride in the team and where all our people are treated with dignity and respect. Every day thousands of health service staff around Ireland live the HSE values of care, compassion, trust and learning.
Values in Action is about building the culture of the health service around these values, so that they are visible in workplaces every day.
It is led by staff from all disciplines and backgrounds, working together to spread 9 behaviours that reflect our values. The behaviours relate to our own personal actions, our actions with our colleagues, as well as our actions when dealing with patients and service users.
Through Values in Action we create a better working environment and deliver better experiences for our patients and service users. Evidence shows that staff who are happier and more engaged at work leads to improved outcomes for patients.
The People Strategy Framework outlines our vision and mission and identifies three key areas for development:
We are fully committed to implementing the People Strategy working with staff, service and HR leaders in the delivery system, partner organisations, regulatory and staff representative bodies. By engaging with and supporting our staff and enabling our teams we can strengthen our connection with the people we serve. ‘If we get it right for staff – we get it right for patients, services users and our communities’. By creating a culture of innovation and support our people can use their talents and abilities to lead change and bring about quality improvements at all levels.
The HSE published the first HSE Resourcing Strategy – Resourcing Our Future, in 2023 with a Vision to ‘Empower our services to attract, develop, retain and engage the workforce that will deliver safer, better health and social care services for the people of Ireland, now and into the future.’ Click here to read more on the HSE Resourcing Strategy
