Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 30 Nov 1999

Vol. 511 No. 6

Written Answers. - Health Service Staff.

Róisín Shortall

Question:

259 Ms Shortall asked the Minister for Health and Children the research, if any, he has authorised by his Department into establishing the posts where health boards are experiencing staff recruitment and retention difficulties; the information available to him on staff shortages in the health services; if he will provide a breakdown of these by health board area; the posts and numbers involved; the policy, if any, he has to tackle this problem; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24950/99]

Minister for Health and Children (Mr. Cowen)

While recruitment of staff is primarily a matter for individual employers, a number of manpower planning initiatives are under way. The question of the medical staffing in hospitals is being examined by the medical manpower forum at the moment and the forum is preparing an interim report which will be completed shortly.

In the course of the expert review group on certain allied health professions, employers acknowledged that there are recruitment difficulties with some of these professions. Officials of my Department have already met with many of the heads of these schools and are currently planning a manpower planning exercise to address these difficulties.

The National Social Work Qualifications Board has begun a manpower planning initiative in relation to social workers, the results of which are expected by the end of this year. This report will recommend on how best to address the current recruitment difficulties in social work, and these recommendations will be followed up by both my Department and the Department of Education and Science.

A manpower planning exercise is under way under the auspices of the review of psychology services group and is addressing the matter in both the short-term and medium-term. This group hopes to be in a position to enter into discussions with the training colleges early next year.

With regard to nursing vacancies, the Health Service Employers Agency, HSEA, is currently carrying out a study of the position at 30 September 1999.

The principal difficulties relating to the recruitment and retention of nurses are concentrated in the Dublin area. While some nurses have always moved from Dublin to other parts of the country, investment in hospitals and the development of regional specialities over recent years have increased demand for nurses outside the Dublin area. Within Dublin, issues such as housing costs, traffic problems and lack of car parking facilities have been cited as disincentives to the recruitment and retention of nurses. These issues are not unique to nurses or to the health service. However, a range of initiatives have been taken or are being progressed with a view to stabilising the situation and, where possible, improving it.

These initiatives include the following: arrangements have been agreed with the nursing unions to allow more favourable assimilation arrangements on to pay scales for nurses taking up both permanent and temporary appointments; a significantly improved regime of allowances in respect of nurses working in specialised areas such as operating theatres and intensive care units is being introduced; discussions with the nursing unions are continuing in relation to the introduction of more flexible working arrangements for nursing staff; standardised overtime working arrangements have been introduced following agreement with the nursing unions; the areas of term time working and annualised hours are the subject of ongoing discussions with staff representatives as an option for staff with family commitments; the availability of return to working courses for qualified nurses who have been out of the work force is being reviewed with a view to maximising uptake; the Department of Health and Children is currently engaged in discussions with health agencies in relation to the provision of specialist nursing courses at centres outside Dublin; an anti-bullying policy has been prepared and agreed with the nursing unions and is due to be published shortly; the promotional structure within nursing, including the introduction of a clinical career pathway, is being significantly improved on foot of the recommendations of the Commission on Nursing; and a Study of the Nursing and Midwifery Resource by the nursing policy division of the Department of Health and Children commenced last year with the primary purpose of forecasting future nursing and midwifery resource needs.

Along with most employers today, the health service is experiencing staff shortages in a variety of areas. By and large the more significant problems are evident in Dublin. I do not intend to have an over-bureaucratic approach to this problem as the number of posts vacant changes from day to day. I have, instead, concentrated my energy on areas with the most significant problems.