Vol. 555 No. 2
94 Ms Burton asked the Minister for Health and Children the steps he plans to take to deal with the acute shortage of nurses, having regard to the findings of the steering group on nursing and midwifery, that the number of vacancies had decreased by just 4% over the past two years and that the turnover rate among nurses in the ERHA is 21%; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18041/02]
The recruitment and retention of nurses in the public health service is a matter of priority for my Department. Over the past four years, a number of highly significant steps have been taken to ensure the continued supply of quality nursing personnel to the health service. Chief among these among these initiatives are establishment of the commission on nursing and ongoing implementation of its recommendations the introduction, this month, of the new nursing degree programme, provision of funding for various recruitment and retention initiatives including payment of fees and other financial supports for nursing degrees and specialist courses, establishment of the National Council for the Professional Development of Nursing and Midwifery and recruitment of nurses from overseas. The overall impact of these measures has enabled the health service to recruit and retain more nurses that ever before. Since 1998, the number of nurses employed in the public health service has risen by 5,788 to a total of 36,089 by end-2001. This represents a 19% increase and is an impressive statistic by any standards.
On 1 November 2001, I launched the new four year undergraduate pre-registration nursing degree programme which commenced for the academic year 2002-3. The new nursing degree programme replaces the three year diploma programme, and will put the education of nurses on a par with that of other health care professionals. The nursing profession has long been seeking such parity, and the Government's decision implements a central recommendation of the Commission on Nursing. Educating nurses to degree level will enable them to develop their clinical skills to a greater extent and to respond to future challenges in health care, for the benefit of patients and client groups.
The Government has approved a capital building programme totalling €243.2 million for the construction of facilities to accommodate nursing students at 13 higher education institutions throughout the country. This programme is due to be completed by September 2004. There has been a dramatic increase in the number of places for the education of nurses at pre-registration level since 1999. The number of places rose from a little over 1,000 in 1999 to 1,640 this year. This represents an increase of 58% in just three years. In addition to undergraduate courses, there is in excess of 800 places on specialist and post-graduate courses including accident and emergency, coronary care, oncology and so on.
A major recruitment and retention initiative, costing in excess of €6.35 million, was launched by me on 29 November 2000 to address the present shortage of nurses and midwives. In particular a scheme of flexible working arrangements for nurses and midwives in the public health service came into operation on 1 February 2001. Under the scheme, individual nurses and midwives may apply to work between eight and 39 hours per week on a permanent part-time basis.
The National Council for the Professional Development of Nursing and Midwifery was established on 30 November 1999 by statutory instrument made under the Health (Corporate Bodies) Act 1961, for the purpose of furthering the development of nursing as a profession with a particular emphasis on post-registration education and training. 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 the 1999 nurses pay settlement. The national council has been especially active in this area, and to date almost 1,400 clinical nurse specialist and advanced nurse practitioner posts have been approved.
In line with recommendation 4:55 of the Commission on Nursing a national pilot programme for the formal training of health care assistants commenced in November 2001, and was successfully completed in May 2002. This course is being run in conjunction with the Further Education and Training Awards Council, FETAC.
The deployment of health care assistants will reduce the number of non-nursing tasks currently being performed by nurses and midwives, and will allow for the more effective utilisation of the professional skills of nurses and midwives. The ongoing recruitment of nurses from abroad is also impacting positively on the vacancy situation. A total of 3,148 working visas and work authorisations were issued to nurses from non EU countries between June 2000 and April 2002.
The combined impact of these measures has been to allow the health service to recruit and retain more nurses than ever before. As I said earlier, the number of nurses employed in the public health service has increased by 19% since 1998 and the number of places at undergraduate level has increased by 58% since 1999.
With regard to the level of nursing vacancies, the quarterly Health Service Employers Agency National Survey shows the following number of vacancies at quarterly intervals since January 2001:
|
Jan 2001 |
Apr 2001 |
Jul 2001 |
Oct 2001 |
Jan 2002 |
Apr 2002 |
|
|
Number of vacancies |
1,314 |
1,316 |
1,252 |
1,322 |
1,089 |
1,047 |
This table shows that the number of vacancies has decreased by 267 since January 2001. This represents a 20.3% reduction in vacancies.
The national study of turnover in nursing and midwifery found that the rate of turnover in the ERHA area has decreased from 25% in 1999 to 22% in 2000 and 21% in 2001. An analysis of the turnover rate showed that 35% left to pursue other employment in nursing, 21% to travel abroad and a further 12% left to pursue studies in nursing. While high turnover rates would give cause for concern there are positive aspects to it. With 47% moving to other posts or pursuing further study, this indicates the high level of opportunity for nurses to develop their careers and the longer term impact of this can only be for the better. Similarly, many nurses who travel abroad will work in nursing and the Irish health service will benefit from the enhanced experience of those who return.
I am satisfied that the range of measures outlined above which I have taken in recent years, as evidenced by the figures quoted above, are having the desired effect on recruitment and retention of nurses. I am confident that the continuing application of these measure will provide the health service with quality nurses and midwives going into the future.
