Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 July 2022
166. Deputy Neale Richmond asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the lack of public health nurse services in Dublin 18; the steps that he is taking to address this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37484/22]
View answerPublic Health Nurses play an extremely valuable role within the community healthcare system and provide an extensive range of services, including the provision of child health screening and supports for parents. It is important that the local community of Dublin 18 – and indeed communities across the country – have access to public health nurses when they need them.
This is why the Government is investing €195 million this year to deliver the Enhanced Community Care Programme and establish 96 Community Health Networks nationally. These networks will be central to the development of improved primary care services and will enable an expansion of primary care capacity. There will be eight such networks across the suburbs of Dublin South and South East.
As part of the ECC programme, 3,500 additional staff will be recruited nationally, with a particular focus on nursing and health and social care professionals. Latest figures show that over 2,000 of these staff are recruited or at an advanced stage of recruitment.
The ECC programme and associated recruitment will boost public health nursing services within Dublin South and Dublin South East, with an additional 15 nursing posts allocated to the area.
Unfortunately, it is the case that the HSE has identified challenges to attracting and retaining nurses that are particular to the Dublin area and affecting recruitment in Dublin 18. These challenges include the availability of property to rent and to buy, cost of living expenses, childcare expenses, and commuting issues. These factors also apply to difficulties in accessing agency staff.
The HSE are working to mitigate these challenges as far as possible at both local and national level. This includes the implementation of an accelerated recruitment campaigns as well as planned engagement with third level institutions in order to recruit newly qualified graduates.
The HSE also plan to boost international recruitment efforts. These initiatives have the potential to address the recruitment challenges being experienced in Dublin 18. At the same time, it is important to recognise that the recruitment challenge is not straightforward and that we are competing in a competitive international marketplace for skilled nursing staff.
It is also the case that the COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted on the capacity of the Public Health Nursing to deliver core child health services. Since March 2020, many Public Health Nurses have been redeployed to support COVID-19 related clinical activities, including vaccination.
As COVID-19 testing and vaccination services are scaled back, available public health nurses are being reassigned from vaccination centres to their core duties with child development check services prioritised. I am optimistic that this will result in improved service delivery across the country, including Dublin 18. For example, the HSE have advised that three nurses have recently been reassigned from the Shoreline Vaccination Centre to Dublin South East.
The Department of Health recognises the need to improve access to the wide range of services provided by public health nurses. I can assure the Deputy that my Department will continue to support the HSE to address the challenges that exist in Dublin 18.
