Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 April 2023
1595. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Health to outline the immediate plans from Government to provide additional appropriate resources to address the extreme bed pressures in St. John's Ward in Crumlin Children's Hospital (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17407/23]
View answerAs part of the development of St John’s in-patient ward, a new procedure room is currently under construction on site to allow patients to have their intrathecal therapy on the ward rather than in operating theatres. This will increase direct nursing care to the patients in the ward.
In order to address nurse staffing and related bed capacity issues across the HSE, my Department is heavily invested in the ongoing education of healthcare staff to support recruitment and retention. Data from Health in Ireland Key Trends 2022 (DOH 2022) shows that students graduating as both undergraduate and postgraduate in medicine, pharmacy, and nursing and midwifery increased consistently between 2014 and 2020, with the total number of students graduating increasing by 30% (from 4,841 to 6,264). Out of the total 6,264 graduates in 2020, 59.7% were from nursing and midwifery.
Health and Social Care workforce planning and ensuring an appropriate pipeline of suitably qualified healthcare professionals is a top priority. In addition, the HSE has been engaging in a programme of work to attract essential talent, to meet the needs of our health service now and in the future. Over the past couple of years, the HSE has worked in partnership with service areas to enhance recruitment capability across our health service. All nursing and midwifery graduates are being offered permanent contracts in our health service.
As well as this, the HSE Winter Plan for 2022-23 was published in October 2022. The Plan supported acute and community services this winter to respond to anticipated high levels of emergency attendances and admissions across the acute sector, long waiting times in EDs, and high occupancy rates in acute hospital settings. €169 million was allocated to ensure the implementation of this plan.
The HSE Winter Plan included a substantial investment in Our Lady's Children Hospital Crumlin and allocated funding for the recruitment of 16 new staff members (or whole time equivalents) across multiple professions in the hospital.
