Individual meetings were held with each of the hospital CEOs or the group CEO over several days in February. We have that information and it is available.
Slide No. 7 indicates a number of national levers we are pushing to the max. One of these is the public service agreement. In terms of the flexibility we are working towards with staff, we are asking for changes in rosters and for staff to redeploy up to a distance of 45 km each way. For example, in the south, over 1,000 staff have been redeployed across the services. In order to minimise the impact on clinical programmes, an additional €23.4 million is being invested this year in these programmes. We are working towards decreasing the average length of stay and increasing productivity with regard to the number of beds we have, albeit we may have some beds left empty.
The national service plan also makes strategic allocations of funding, for example, €35 million extra for mental health, which will cater for approximately 414 posts which will primarily be for our community mental health teams, our child and adolescent psychiatry teams and therapy. Some €20 million is also being provided for primary care and this may increase to €25 million. That investment will go towards therapists and dealing with the gaps in primary care. In addition, some €16 million is available as part of the service plan for targeted recruitment and this will be targeted at areas where there are significant gaps, such as midwifery, neonatal care and emergency departments.
I have a number of slides that give a flavour of what is happening in each region and we have the regional directors of operations, RDOs, here with us and we can go through what is happening in detail if there are questions in that regard. Page 9 of our document indicates what we are doing. We are replacing approximately 524 staff overall nationally, which comes to between 10% and 12% of those leaving in the different regions. For example, based on the meetings we had with the managers and CEOs in the southern region, there are approximately 326 retirees from the hospitals, many of whom have already gone, 54%, and some 57 of these are being replaced. In terms of consultant posts, 14 posts will replace the 19 being lost and in maternity services, 23 posts will replace the 32 being lost and in the nursing area, the services will retain the graduate nurses coming on and the student nurses during the transition period in order to achieve some of the changes in work practices coming about.
Slide No. 9 shows that approximately 17.48 % represents the replacement factor in the southern region across our hospital services. We have also set out on a hospital by hospital basis the number of staff being replaced - 57. In the interest of transparency, we have also set out clearly the number of consultancy posts from which consultants are retiring and the number being replaced, 19 retiring and 14 replacements and this is illustrated on slide No. 10. Slide No. 11 provides the figures for maternity services, a critical area, where a total of 32 people are retiring and 23 replacements being made. In addition, there will also be some students taken off. These slides show the new head counts that will be in place, but there will also be some assistants coming in at these and other grades.
With regard to overall community services throughout the south - apart from the acute hospitals - a significant number of 891 are to retire and 31 of these will be replaced. These figures do not include the new investment about which we spoke that will go to mental health and primary care, but that portion has not yet been divided up between each of the regions. In the significant area of nursing in the community, some 266 nurses will retire, including 21 public health nurses, and some 28 additional nurses will be recruited. We are not necessarily recruiting public health nurses, but are replacing these with registered general nurses. In that way we will unite the skill mix of the public health nurses and the RGNs. We will use the RGNs to cover areas of the public health nurses' work and dedicate the public health nurses to the specific tasks for which they are qualified and needed. Quite a significant number of nurse managers are due to retire, some 662 of the 1994, and we are reorganising nurse manager posts.
We have more detail on Dublin north east in the presentation. Slide No. 13 illustrates that across hospitals and the community area, some 888 people will have left over the period from December to February. Some 357 are retiring from hospitals, with 71 of these being replaced. In the consultancy area, some ten consultants are retiring and some eight will be replaced. In the maternity area, some 21 people are retiring and some 20 critical posts will be replaced. It is important to note that while we say they are to be replaced, there are also interim arrangements in place. Therefore, the posts are currently covered and will be covered by either temporary posts or by staff working additional hours. In the case of consultants, we have locum consultants in place to cover gaps. All the transition plans are based on this premise.
With regard to the hospitals in Dublin-North East, our presentation documents provide a breakdown on a hospital by hospital level of where the replacement posts will be. The replacement rate for the hospitals is 19.88%, as illustrated on slide No. 14. Slide No. 15 shows the detail on the consultancy posts for Dublin-North East. It can be clearly seen that the two posts not to be replaced are in Cavan. If members want more detail in that regard the RDO will be able to provide that. Slide No. 16 indicates that some 21 midwives in the region are retiring and that 20 are being replaced. The other will be reassigned elsewhere. Therefore, there is one-on-one replacement in Dublin-North East in respect of maternity services.
Slide No. 17 shows the data on community and key risk services for Dublin-North East. In general, some 531 will retire and some 109 posts will be replaced. The figures do not take into account the new investment in either our mental health or primary care services. Some 24 public health nurses will retire in this region and some of them will be replaced by RGNs. There is a similar trend of replacement in each of the regions. In the area of mental health, it is intended to maximise the staff available through reconfiguration, particularly where institutional care facilities are closing and care provision is moving to the community. When they have maximised this, some of the critical posts will have to be replaced. We had a particular issue with regard to St. Joseph's intellectual disability services, which is on the site of St. Ita's in Portrane and clinical posts there will need to be replaced in order to have a safe level of service. There is a disproportionate number of therapists leaving from the primary care teams in Cavan and Monaghan and some of these will be replaced.
Slide No. 18 deals with Dublin-mid-Leinster, which will lose 998 staff in total and some 54% of these have already left. Across the hospitals in this region, there will be some 415 retirees and some 83 replacements. In the consultancy area here, there will be 18 retirees from key specialist areas and they all will be replaced. In maternity services, some 31 staff will retire, mainly midwives, and 25 of these will be replaced. Slide No. 19 sets out the numbers leaving and being replaced on a hospital by hospital basis. These plans have been done in conjunction with the CEOs of the hospitals and have been signed off on. With regard to consultant posts for this area, slide No. 20 indicates again that all of these posts will be replaced. Slide No. 21 shows the details for maternity services. A significant number of midwives will retire from Holles Street and there will be six replacements. The master of the hospital has indicated the hospital will reconfigure and convert some overtime and agency posts into wholetime equivalents so that the hospital will be able to deliver safe services. Management is confident of that and has signed off to that effect. The other maternity hospitals will replace retirees almost on a one-on-one basis.
With regard to community services for Dublin-mid-Leinster, which includes all services outside acute services, some 583 will retire and some 50 of these will be replaced. The Central Mental Hospital has been a specific issue, where some seven nurses are retiring, five of whom have already left. However, it is not these seven who have caused the issue, but the cumulative effect of the numbers that have left over the years. However, there is a plan in place to convert overtime money, of which there is a significant spend, into wholetime equivalents or additional headcount and that plan is being progressed. Therefore, additional staff will be recruited for the Central Mental Hospital over and above the seven being lost. With regard to community nursing, some 183 nurses are leaving, including 33 public health nurses. Some 39 nurses will be taken on to replace these posts. We are also reorganising nurse management grades and posts.
In the area of public analysis and laboratory posts, there is specific detail on this area in our report. Quite a number of people are leaving posts across biochemistry and laboratory services. Each of these areas has reorganised to cope with this but some of the key posts must be replaced as not to do so would be risky.
Slide No. 23 relates to the west. In this area some 1,994 staff are leaving in total. Some 392 are retiring from hospitals, with 77 of these being replaced. With regard to consultancy posts, some 11 consultants will retire, eight of whom will be replaced. In the maternity area, some 27 midwives will retire, a high number in Limerick, and 12 will be replaced. In addition, five nurses will move from the Limerick General Hospital to Limerick maternity hospital. Another five agency posts will be converted into wholetime equivalent posts. There are particular risks and challenges as a result of the cumulative impact of the moratorium and reconfiguration across the mid-west hospital group, which includes Ennis, Nenagh, Limerick, St. John's and the orthopaedic hospital. We have set out the number of staff retiring and being replaced. Of the 392 retiring from hospital, some 77 posts are being replaced, which represents a rate of approximately 19.64% in these hospitals.
With regard to consultancy staff, some eight of the 11 consultants retiring from a cohort of 525 consultants will be replaced. In St. John's or Ennis, where there will be either one replacement or none, this is part of the overall reconfiguration plan taken into account by the new CEO of the mid-western region. With regard to maternity services, I would like to draw attention to the figures for the Limerick maternity hospital where new posts are coming into being. In terms of the head count of retirees for Limerick maternity hospital, it is 19 or 16.5 wholetime equivalents. These are being replaced by five new midwives coming in. In addition, some five trained midwives are being reassigned from Limerick Regional Hospital and five wholetime equivalent posts are also being created through the use of overtime and agency funding to address the problem. This means there are 15 midwives replacing those leaving in Limerick. The overall numbers on this are available on Slide No. 26.
Slide No. 27 provides the details on community services. There will be 802 retirements and 46 replacements across the west. There are 318 nurses across the community services and 32 public health nurses from this group will retire. Management services are being reorganised and some of the public health nurses will be replaced with RGNs. The region will also consolidate and amalgamate districts in terms of public health nursing. There were some issues with regard to the community nursing units, specifically the Sacred Heart unit in Casltebar and St. Conlon's in the Limerick region. Casltlebar is recruiting staff and where nine nurses are leaving, these will be replaced by four health care assistants so that the cohort of beds required can remain open. The same applies to St. Conlon's.
The figures in our report represent a point in time and are based on interviews and meetings that took place over February. The figures will have changed slightly as they are dynamic figures. We have put as much detail as we can into our report and have included an appendix which shows where staff are going according to care group. We are satisfied a significant planning process has been under way since the autumn at local and hospital level and across the services. This has been built up into our regional service plans. Regional forums have been held over the past week setting out the service plan and the national service plan, which take account of the €750 million challenge for the HSE as well as the impact of the staff retirements. We expect our comprehensive planning process to mitigate the impact of the staff retirements.