· Report calls for a strategic and co-ordinated approach to end of life issues in all Government Departments and Agencies
· Almost 7,000 Civil Servants were bereaved in the last 2 years
· Recommends every Government Department and Agency should develop a comprehensive bereavement policy
A major new report on how the Civil Service deals with dying, death, and bereavement amongst its 30,000 staff, calls for a strategic and co-ordinated approach to end of life issues in all Government Departments and Agencies.
The report, launched today, Thursday December 3rd, by Taoiseach Enda Kenny, reveals that there is no co-ordinated end-of-life training for Civil Service line managers, despite the numbers who die or are bereaved annually.
The report “Finite Lives – Part 1 A Report on how the Civil Service deals with dying, death and bereavement among its own members” and written by Independent Senator Marie Louise O’Donnell, says each Government Department and Agency should develop a comprehensive and relevant bereavement policy, to be reviewed annually.
The study from which the report arises was initiated by the Taoiseach earlier this year. Senator O’Donnell’s brief from the Taoiseach was two fold. Today’s report is part one and establishes how the Civil Service deals with in service death, bereaved colleagues, serious illness and people facing loss and challenges in their lives.
Part two of the report, to be completed early next year, will explore how the state interacts with people facing dying, death and bereavement, to identify gaps and to suggest developments for the future.
75 Civil Servants died in service in the last two years and almost 7,000 were bereaved in the same period. The report points to a need across Departments and Agencies to put in place a range of measures to better support bereaved staff including having a comprehensive bereavement policy including staff training, protocols for a return to work following a bereavement and provision of ongoing support to bereaved staff.
Arising from the study the report recommends all Departments and Agencies should support their staff in planning for end of life. The report suggests use of the Irish Hospice Foundation Think Ahead programme, which helps people plan, discuss and record their wishes in the event of serious illness or death. Senator O’Donnell recommends that this initiative should be spearheaded by the Taoiseach’s Office.
Senator O’Donnell reveals that in the course of her research, she discovered evidence of “great vulnerability” and anxiety amongst Civil Servants due to debt, reduced health benefits and lack of financial certainty with no foreseeable promotional prospects. “I met Civil Servants faced with very challenging financial and personal landscapes. I was meeting Civil Servants and their many representatives after eight years of austerity and eight years of depleted organisations which included pay cuts, loss of promotion, loss of morale and loss of personal expectation…..there was the loss of their assumed world, lack of belief in who they are and questions around whether what they do is really worth it.”
She said during the course of her interviews with Civil Servants she found a loss of a sense of pride in being a public servant, with some
saying they are afraid to admit being in the public service because they were perceived as “privileged and cosseted”.
The report also said that the reality of an ageing profile among Civil Servants was an issue. The staff experienced parental deaths which can impact on health and mood and work. The average age of staff of the Departments and Agencies surveyed was 46.
“An ageing profile suggests also the reality of carers, and all of the other issues that arise when people are getting older. They personally may not be approaching end of life, but they certainly will have parents and other family members who are” the report says.
Human communication – face-to-face communication, person-to-person communication - was cited as the greatest challenge for all respondents when faced with grief and loss.
Throughout all of the interviews, the Civil Servants were very conscious of their responsibilities. They constantly strive to strike a balance between responsive and empathetic support for their colleagues, and the need to continue their publicly-funded work.
Speaking at today’s launch the Taoiseach said:
“I asked Senator O’Donnell to take an independent look at how the State interacts with people facing dying, death and bereavement across all Government Departments to identify good practice, to see the gaps and to suggest areas for improvement. I am delighted to be launching Part One of her report. This is an enlightening and very human report which illustrates the all-pervasive nature of support needed at our most testing moments. This work is already changing practice within the civil service.”
In the conclusion of her report Senator O’Donnell says of the Civil Servants: “This report is about their very personal lives, their emotive lives and their affective lives. Their working lives. Their finite lives.”
Ends.