asked the Minister for Health the total number of posts unfilled by the health boards since 1 January 1983, as a result of insufficient funding.
96.
Written Answers. - Unfilled Health Board Posts.
17.
asked the Minister for Health if he will enumerate the posts which have not been filled in each health board area since 1 January 1983, as a result of insufficient funding.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 17 and 96 together. The number of posts which have not been filled in each health board since the beginning of 1983 is shown in the following tabular statement.
It is not possible to specifically identify posts which were not filled due to funding reasons. Decisions on the filling of posts are made by the management of the health boards in the context of the delivery of health services and all the relevant information at their disposal. This includes factors such as demographic influences, seasonal reasons, and the demand for particular types of services and staff. In addition the commissioning of new units and facilities meant that health boards redeployed a number of their staff to secure the optimum operational efficiency.
I should point out that the number of staff employed by health boards at 31 December 1985 totalled 40,265 broken down by boards as follows:
|
Health Board |
|
|
Eastern |
7,300 |
|
Midland |
3,470 |
|
Mid-Western |
4,150 |
|
North-Eastern |
3,100 |
|
North-Western |
4,215 |
|
South-Eastern |
4,820 |
|
Southern |
7,550 |
|
Western |
5,660 |
Number of Posts not filled since 1 January 1983
|
Health Board |
1983 |
1984 |
1985 |
1986 |
Total |
|
Eastern |
8 |
8 |
0 |
0 |
16 |
|
Midland |
10 |
14 |
11 |
2 |
37 |
|
Mid-Western |
7 |
1 |
5 |
— |
13 |
|
North-Eastern |
7 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
11 |
|
North-Western |
89 |
98 |
75 |
0 |
262 |
|
South-Eastern |
62 |
— |
1 |
0 |
63 |
|
Southern |
76 |
51 |
38 |
0 |
165 |
|
Western |
16 |
12 |
28 |
1 |
57 |
|
Total |
275 |
185 |
160 |
4 |
624 |