The rate of absenteeism for the first 10 months of 2011 was higher than the full year figure for the previous year, according to new data from the HSE November
Performance Report.

Contacts to GP out-of-hours services were eight per cent higher at the end of November compared to the same period last year, new HSE figures show.

The average length of stay in hospitals in November 2011 was 5.9 days, representing a failure to meet the national target of 5.6 days, the HSE Performance Report for the month stated.

Fewer than 104,000 people now occupy full-time posts in the HSE, following a reduction of 95 more full-time positions last November.