A senior HSE official has said there has been a lack of progress on increasing productivity of community nurses and therapists under the Haddington Road pay deal.

The HSE's head of primary care John Hennessy, in an address to a GP meeting last weekend, said performance and productivity were significant issues within certain sections within the wider primary care system.

Asked afterwards what sections of the primary care system he was referring to, Mr Hennessy told irishhealth.com the Haddington Road deal had provided for additional hours from community nursing and therapist services.

He said the HSE was now looking more closely at this to ensure that additional hours were directly translated into additional activity and shorter waiting times for care.

Mr Hennessy added that the balance between home and clinic visits was also been looked at in order to increase the number of patient contacts.

He was addressing the Annual Conference of the Irish College of General Practitioners in Galway.

The annual conference of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation last week heard reports of increased levels of stress among community nurses due to heavier workloads.

The HSE is meeting with unions today to discuss further savings in the health service from the Haddington Road agreement.