Health Services Staff

Wednesday, 27 January 2021

Questions (734)

Richard Boyd Barrett

Question:

734. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Health the current HSE staffing levels in comparison to the previous peak of Covid-19 positive cases in hospitals in April 2020 (details supplied); his views on whether it is appropriate to repeat the same arrangements for student nurses and midwives currently on or soon to commence clinical placement given the current levels of positive cases that the healthcare system is trying to deal with; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3849/21]

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Written answers

Minister for Health

At the end of April, there were 121,702 WTE employed by the HSE, which was an increase of 1,885 WTE from the end of 2019. At the end of the December, the health sector workforce had a total of 126,174 WTE. This is an increase of 6,357 WTE since the end of December 2019.

With a staffing complement of 100k plus, HSE has a well-developed and professional HR function. At any given time therefore, senior management within HSE is best placed to determine the type of staff it needs across all areas and disciplines.