Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 May 2023
716. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health if he will provide further details regarding the recently announced €25 million in funding for 854 additional nursing posts to fully implement the Framework for Safe Nurse Staffing and Skillmix in all acute hospitals; the timeline he is working towards for filling these posts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21863/23]
View answerThe Framework for Safe Staffing is an evidence-based approach to determine safe staffing and skill mix for nursing that is fully supported by Government and being implemented by the HSE. It is determined by patient need and demonstrates impact through the measurement of a range of outcomes.
Since 2018, two safe staffing policy documents have been published, Phase 1 focused on Adult General and Specialist Medical and Surgical Care Settings. Phase 2 focused on Adult Emergency Care Settings.
There has been significant investment of approximately €31 million to date to support implementation of the Framework, with 870 additional Whole Time Equivalent (WTE) Registered Nurses and Healthcare Assistants in post across acute hospitals.
Completing implementation of Phases 1 and 2 of the Framework in all hospitals by the end of 2023 is a priority for me and have sanctioned the HSE to prioritize recruitment of the 854 additional posts needed.
The Framework methodology uses new/additional posts along with conversion of agency to permanent posts to achieve the required workforce stability. Nursing posts are a combination of Registered Nurses (RN) and Health Care Assistants (HCA) and this combination refers to the skill-mix.
The breakdown applying the methodology above equates to €25m in new posts ( funding already provided to the HSE ) as well as conversion posts.
|
- |
RN |
€ |
HCA |
€ |
|
New funding |
353.5 |
22m |
50 |
3m |
|
Agency |
333.5 |
0m |
117 |
0m |
|
Total |
687 |
22m |
167 |
3m |
Agency conversion is an important component of the Framework to achieve nursing workforce stability. There is no additional funding required for the 450.5 WTE agency conversions and the evidence has shown cost savings at hospital level through reduced reliance and use of Agency overtime.
The total number of posts required, combining both new posts and agency conversions, to fully implement the Framework is 854.
My Department will work with the HSE to achieve this timeline and progress of recruitment will be reported through the national oversight group to support monitoring against this timeline.
