Health & Social Care Services Launch Mediation Scheme
The Health and Social Care Services (HSCS) has launched an Internal Mediation Scheme with a view to provide a more effective and viable mechanism for resolving workplace disputes in the HSE, the Voluntary Hospitals and the Intellectual Disability Sector.
Under the HSCS Mediation Scheme - the first public service mediation scheme to provide an internal panel of part-time Mediators - employees from different backgrounds in the HSE have trained as Mediators and been accredited by the Mediators’ Institute of Ireland (The MII).
The Scheme, which is a partnership-led initiative between Management and Union, insists that any Mediator used, whether as an internal or external Mediator, must hold a current MII Practising Certificate. The reason for this is that it shows that the Mediator has a certain standard of training and level of skills, has signed up to the MII Code of Practice and engages in up-to-date continuing professional development.
On 25 June 2009, 36 HSE members received their MII Certified Member status certificates from Karen Erwin, President of the MII, in Stewart’s Hospital, Dublin, formally launching the scheme. They will provide mediation services to over 110,000 staff in the Health and Social Care Services.
