David Cullinane
Question:84. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health his plans to address the pay and working conditions concerns of student nurses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33739/20]
View answerTuesday, 3 November 2020
Questions (84)
Oral answers (4 contributions)
I hope I get a better response on the issue of pay and working conditions for student nurses than the previous Deputy got on public health specialists. I agree with the points that were made. That is an issue that needs to be resolved. The Minister committed to doing so when he was in opposition.
We have a very real problem concerning student nurses on first, second and third year placements. They are the glue holding our public health system together. They are operating on the front line and they are doing a first-class job but they are not being paid. Can the Minister address this issue urgently?
I thank the Deputy. I recognise the importance of student nurses and midwives completing their essential clinical placements in a safe environment. I also recognise the potential hardship that might arise due to Covid-19 for students on placement, such as maintaining part-time employment, increased travel and additional accommodation costs.
Student nurses and midwives are not paid for clinical placements in the first three years of their studies and this supernumerary status is critical for learning in complex environments. Financial supports for non-intern student nurses and midwives are governed by circular 9/2004, which provides an accommodation allowance of up to €50.79 per week, to be paid where it is necessary for a student to obtain accommodation away from their normal place of residence, and a refund of travel expenses. Both are paid as refunds on production of receipts.
In the immediate term my Department is reviewing the current accommodation and travel allowances that apply to this year's first, second and third year students on clinical placements, taking into account the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on such placements. The revision is expected to conclude shortly and I look forward to bringing proposals forward thereafter.
Regarding fourth year nursing and midwifery students, the HSE continues to fund the internship employment of these students who are on rostered work placements. It is very important to me that the training element is protected for students. This includes those scheduled to commence in the coming weeks and those due to commence rostered work placements in 2021. These fourth year student nurses and midwives on rostered work placements are paid at the approved rate, that is, €22,229 on an annual basis for psychiatric nursing specialism and €21,749 for all other nursing disciplines.
I will say again that some nurses on clinical placements get an allowance of up to €50 per week, but many do not. It is simply not good enough. In the early stages of the pandemic, many of those student nurses were getting a rate equivalent to that of a health care assistant, HCA. That was discontinued. The Minister must reinstate that rate. He needs to deal with this very urgently. As I said, these people are doing a first-class job on the front line. They should be rewarded and respected and they should get paid for it.
I also wish to ask the Minister about a separate issue to do with a previous negotiation between the State and the IMO. I refer to the IMO contract which was the subject of discussion earlier this evening. When he spoke in the Dáil on 16 April 2019, he made it very clear that it was his understanding that the document which we have been told was agreed was not widely known or shared with GPs. Is that the Minister's position? Can he also confirm to the House that the Department of Health will make all communications between the National Association of General Practitioners, NAGP, the HSE and the Department between April and May 2019 available to Deputies who seek it? We have sought it and we have not yet got it.
I thank the Deputy. I fully agree that nursing students need support. He refers to the HCA wage which was paid during the first wave of the pandemic. The Deputy should bear in mind that when that happened the student nurses were essentially asked to move from education to work. They were working full-time. They stepped up when they were needed and did a fantastic job in a crisis. They were paid the HCA wage. That meant they were working as HCAs and their line managers in the hospitals deployed them as HCAs. It is very important to remember that these are educational training placements. We do not want these students working as HCAs. That is not the point. These educational placements are a really important aspect of the nursing degree which was set up in 2004. I want to make very clear that they are fundamentally different. We are not asking the nurses to work as HCAs. We are asking them to do their educational training placements. We are looking at the current stipend and considering what can be done in the short term, in the context of Covid-19.