Vol. 517 No. 1
151 Mr. O'Shea asked the Minister for Health and Children the proposals, if any, he has to deal with the current crisis in nurse staffing levels at St. Patrick's geriatric hospital, John's Hill, Waterford; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9230/00]
The South-Eastern Health Board has informed me that it is currently taking a number of steps that should prove a positive influence in relation to the availability of nursing staff in St. Patrick's Hospital as well as other hospitals in its area. These include the provision of overtime to nurses; the rostering of annual leave for the next leave year which will provide the opportunity to put in place permanent locum posts; the board's policy with regard to career breaks, job-sharing, and term-time working is being examined with an attempt to predict activities in these areas for the next five years; the board also intends to carry out an assessment of the nature of work carried out by nurses, particularly in the context of clerical and administrative duties, and care assistant duties; the board will also continue to make efforts to recruit and train nursing staff.
In 1999, 41 students began undergraduate nurse training at the board's regional training school in partnership with Waterford Institute of Technology. This was the highest recruitment to date and was a result of the board's marketing campaign to promote nursing as a career.
I have allocated £100,000 to the South-Eastern Health Board in the current year specifically for the purposes of improving the staffing of extended care units for older people. The board proposes to use part of this money for the recruitment of nurses at St. Patrick's Hospital.
