Written Answers - Health Board Staff.
Paul McGrath
Question:
396
Mr. P. McGrath
asked the
Minister for Health and Children
if his attention has been drawn to the inability of health boards to recruit adequate numbers of health care professionals within the State; his strategy to assist the health boards in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[5578/03]
The Deputy may wish to note the significant increased employment of health care professionals in the health service over recent years. For example, between end-1997 and end-2001 there has been an increase of 8,650, 22%, in numbers of medical/dental, nursing and health and social care professional personnel employed in the health service in wholetime equivalent terms. Information in respect of the end-2002 position recorded in the annual health service census is currently being compiled by my Department. Overseas recruitment by health agencies has, over recent years, made an important contribution to meeting the human resource needs of the health service in areas experiencing shortages of fully trained and qualified staff.
The sharp increase in employment of these personnel highlights the increased attractiveness of employment in the health service. This has been achieved through such measures as pay enhancements, developments in career structure and enhanced opportunities for professional development. The implementation of the pay recommendations of the public service benchmarking body will make a further contribution to the recruitment and improved retention of these scarce grades.
A number of important initiatives are currently being undertaken to continue to meet the human resource requirements of the health service in areas which have experienced staff shortages over recent years.
As far as the therapy professions are concerned, the report current and future demand conditions in the labour market for certain professional therapists commissioned by my Department from Dr. Peter Bacon and Associates, concluded that a major expansion was essential in the numbers of therapists and this required a very significant increase in therapy training places in order to meet the long-term requirements of the health service. Significant progress has been achieved in boosting the number of therapy training places in line with the recommendations of the report. In May 2002, I announced, in conjunction with the Minister for Education and Science, an additional 175 therapy training places in speech and language therapy and occupational therapy and physiotherapy to achieve the recommended increase in the number of therapists over the next decade recommended in the report. The first intake into these additional training places in UL, UCC and NUIG is planned to take place later this year.
In the nursing area, in July 2002, a comprehensive report on the nursing and midwifery resource towards workforce planning was published. Recruitment and retention of nurses and midwives has been an issue of concern in recent years. Developments in relation to the education of nurses have coincided with a dramatic increase in the number of places available for nursing students. This year, 1,640 nursing training places are available, 58% higher than the number available in 1998. In addition, there are now in excess of 800 places available on specialist post-graduate courses including accident and emergency, coronary care and oncology. A comprehensive package of incentives, including payment of fees and other financial supports are available to nurses undertaking these courses.
The report of the national task force on medical staffing which is currently being completed will make an important contribution to planning how the health service should provide a high quality consultant provided service and meet the requirements of the European Working Time Directive.
With the record numbers of staff recruited into the health service in the past number of years it is imperative that a coherent, strategic approach to workforce and human resource planning be developed further. Planning for the development of new and existing services in the future must be soundly based on a robust and realistic assessment of the skill and human resource needs to deliver these services. The issue of skill mix is also of paramount importance in meeting human resource needs. Enhanced skills mix by matching skills to service needs benefits patients and empowers health personnel to reach their full potential and optimise their contribution to quality care.
Having recruited and developed such a large number of staff over recent years, it is a priority to retain them by offering a challenging and rewarding career path. In todays human capital and skills intensive health sector, retention has been identified as a key issue in better people management. The implementation of the action plan for people management has a crucial role to play in boosting the capacity of the health service to retain scarce skilled medical/dental, nursing and health and social care professionals.
As far as speech and language therapists in particular are concerned, intensive efforts have been undertaken to improve staffing levels in speech and language therapy, both at local and national level. Relevant developments include the continued implementation of the recommendations of the report of the expert group on various health professions, which included new pay scales and career structures, the undertaking of a concerted overseas recruitment drive on behalf of all health boards, the introduction of a fast track working visa scheme for health and social care professionals, the streamlining of procedures for the validation of overseas qualifications and the planned significant expansion in the number of training places in speech and language therapy, through the implementation of the Bacon report. The success of these measures are reflected in the increase of fifty-four speech and language therapists, an increase of 15.6%, employed in the public health service over the past two years.
Responsibility for human resource planning, including the monitoring and filling of vacant speech and language therapy posts, in the South-Eastern Health Board area rests with the chief executive officer. My Department has therefore asked the chief executive officer of that board to investigate the specific issues relating to the recruitment of speech and language therapists raised by the Deputy and reply to him directly.
