The cost of hiring security staff at Galway City’s two main public hospitals has swelled by more than a third in five years.

New HSE figures confirm security staff costs at University Hospital Galway and Merlin Park stood at €3.46 million for 2024.

This was up by 36%, or more than €900,000, on the €2.5m Galway University Hospitals spent on security guards in 2020, and it represented annual increase of 14% compared with 2023.

General Manager of GUH, Chris Kane confirmed the costs in response to a Parliamentary Question submitted by Galway West TD Mairéad Farrell (SF).

Ms Kane confirmed that the two public hospitals employ a mix of in-house security staff plus agency staff.

There were 22 whole-time-equivalent HSE security staff employed in GUH last year at a cost of €1.75m. A further €1.7m was spent on an average of 50 agency staff supplied by a company that successfully tendered for the security contract, Ms Kane said.

Security staff in the two city hospitals deal with abuse and assaults on staff by visitors and patients, including in the Emergency Department; they maintain safety on-site and manage access to the various buildings and departments; and security may also be required to monitor vulnerable patients.

The millions of euro that are spent annually on security at Galway’s two main public hospitals was symptomatic of the ‘crisis’ in Ireland’s health service, according to Deputy Farrell.

“This seems to be a symptom of the consistent inability of successive governments to tackle the crisis in our health service. Anyone who has been in the ED of late will know of how chaotic it can be due to overcrowding.

“If security and this level of security is deemed necessary for the safety of patients and staff then it is important, however, this will not change without a fundamental change in the delivery for our health care.

“The money announced for health in the National Development Plan is not enough to deliver the beds and the elective hospitals promised by Government, what impact will that underfunding have on our own elective hospital and indeed the beds that are desperately needed in Galway?” Deputy Farrell said.

The HSE said that security teams played “a critical role in ensuring the safe and effective operation of our hospitals, working 24/7 across hospital campuses”.

Pictured: University Hospital Galway