MLSA Submission to Department of Health and HSE on Career Progression for Medical Scientists
March 2021
Following on from its submission on recruitment and retention (see below), the MLSA made a submission to the HSE and Department of Health in March 2021 on Career Progression for Medical Scientists, as part of discussions facilitated by the Workplace Relations Commission. The submission gave details of the MLSA position on the main issues on career progression: the need to develop a consultant medical scientist grade, advanded practice and extended scope of practice opportunites, medical scientist promotional grade ratios and continuous professional development (CPD).
MLSA Submission to Department of Health and HSE on Recruitment and Retention
September 2020
In preparation for talks on the MLSA's claim for the restoration of pay parity with clinical biochemist grades and for parity of career progression, the MLSA made a submission to the DOH and the HSE on recruitment and retention difficulties in the medical scientist profession and the changes to pay and career progession required to resolve the problem. The MLSA submission can be found here.
MLSA /ACSLM Joint Submission to Oireachtas Special Committee on COVID-19 Response
June 2020
The MLSA was invited to make a submission to the Oireachtas Special Committee on COVID-19 Response in June 2020. The MLSA Executive Committee and the Council of the Academy of Clinical Science and Laboratory Medicine collaborated to produce a joint submission which can be viewed here.
MLSA Submission on CORU Consultation on Medical Scientists' Registration Board Draft Bye Laws
September 2018
The MLSA made a submission in response to CORU’s public consultation in August-September 2018 on the following five draft documents from the Medical Scientists’ Registration Board:
- Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics Draft Bye-Law
- Return to Practice Draft Bye-Law
- Application for Registration Draft Bye-Law
- Restoration to the Register following Removal By Request Draft Bye-Law
- Restoration to the Register following Cancellation of Registration Draft Bye-Law
Click here for the MLSA submission: it should be read in conjunction with the draft bye-laws, which can be found on the CORU website http://www.coru.ie/.
MLSA Submission to the Joint Oireachtas Health Committee on Cervical Check
May 2018
The MLSA was invited to speak to the Oireachtas Health Committee on May 23rd 2018 about Cervical Check and screening programmes. Click here for the written MLSA submission to the Health Committee.
Click here for the offical transcript of the public session of the Health Committee debate. The debate can be viewed at https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/oireachtas-tv/oireachtas-tv-channel/
MLSA Submission on the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) Statement of Strategy
May 2018
The MLSA made a submission to the public consultation on the HSA's Statement of Strategy 2019-2021, asking the HSA to ensure that sufficient emphasis is placed on workplace and employee safety, health and welfare in inspections by the Irish National Accreditation Board (INAB). The issues raised by the MLSA were also referenced in a separate submission made by the Health and Safety Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, on which the MLSA is represented.
INAB now comes under the remit of the HSA and one of the HSA’s priorities in its strategy for the period 2019-2021 is to grow the National Accreditation service to enable and support enterprises and public services. Click here for the MLSA submission.
MLSA Submission to CORU on Draft Education and Training Programme and Proficiency Standards
January 2018
The MLSA made a submission to CORU on Draft Education and Training Programme and Proficiency Standards. The submission was made on the online form but a printed copy was also sent to CORU. Click here for the full submission, which should be read in conjunction with the CORU draft Standards on Education and Training Programmes and the CORU draft standards on Proficiency for Medical Scientists.
MLSA Submission to Public Service Pay Commission on recruitment and retention issues
November 2017
In advance of making a submission to the PSPC, the MLSA conducted a limited survey among laboratory managers of recruitment and retention difficulties. Due to the small number of responses and the relatively small number of medical scientist posts compared to other health professionals, the data received was inconclusive, but some common themes emerged which were reported to the Commission. The submission was made on an Excel spreadsheet provided by the Commission: the text of the MLSA submission has been extracted from the submitted spreadsheet and is available here.
MLSA Submission to Department of Health and Children Consultation on Healthforce Work Planning
July 2017
The Department of Health and Children sought submissions on the draft National Strategic Framework for Health Workforce Planning. The MLSA submission is available here.
MLSA Submission to Public Service Pay Commission
January 2017
The MLSA made a submission to the Public Service Pay Commission in January 2017 in advance of the Commission's first report. The submission called for the full restoration of 2010 pay for medical scientists, including working hours and removal of the pension levy. In addition, the submission focussed in more detail on six areas of particular importance to MLSA members:
- Pay parity with Biochemists
- Pensionability of on call earnings
- Improvements to on call payments
- Restoration of twilight pay for working 6pm to 8pm
- Education fund for medical scientists
The full submission can be found here.