The Health Service Employers Agency, HSEA, undertakes quarterly surveys of nursing vacancies, the latest of which is for the month ending 30 June 2004. A copy of this survey, which contains a breakdown by hospital-health board and voluntary agency, will be forwarded directly to the Deputy.
While all sectors reported that recruitment was well ahead of resignations and retirements, employers reported that 771 vacancies existed at 30 June 2004, a decrease from 1,007 vacancies in June 2003.
The number of vacancies as of 30 June 2004 represents a substantial decrease from the end of September 2000, when employers reported 1,388 vacancies.
The current vacancy rate of 1.92% is one of the lowest in recent years, and could be considered to be a normal frictional rate, given that there will always be some level of movement due to resignations, retirements and nurses availing of opportunities to change employment and locations.
In 1998, there were 26,612 whole-time equivalent nurses employed in the public health system. By the end of December 2003, this figure had reached 33,765. This is an increase of over 7,150 during the period or 26.8%.
The recruitment and retention of adequate numbers of nursing staff has been a concern of this Government for some time, and a number of substantial measures have been introduced in recent years. The number of nursing training places has been increased by 70% since 1998 to 1,640 from 2002 onwards. The continuing attractiveness of nursing as a career for school leavers and mature code applicants alike is clearly evident from the number of applicants for such courses. For example, there were 8,300 CAO applications for 1,640 places in the autumn 2004 intake. This is most encouraging, given that there is an ever-increasing array of attractive alternatives provided by our third-level education system.
A comprehensive range of financial supports have been introduced to support nurses in pursuing part-time degrees and specialist courses, including "back to practice" courses. Since 1998 nurses have been paid for overtime. Previously they had been given time off in lieu and the introduction of payment represents a further significant financial incentive for nurses.
My predecessor introduced a scheme of flexible working arrangements for nurses and midwives in February 2001. Under the scheme, individual nurses and midwives may apply to work between eight to 39 hours per week on a permanent, part-time basis. The figure of 33,765 whole-time equivalent nurses working in the health service translates into 40,119 individual nurses. Of these, some 29,629 work full-time, and 10,490 work job-sharing or other atypical patterns. Thus, over one quarter of the nursing workforce avails of family-friendly work patterns.
The promotional structure within nursing, including the introduction of a clinical career pathway, has been substantially improved on foot of the recommendations of the commission on nursing and the 1999 nurses' pay settlement. The National Council for the Professional Development of Nursing and Midwifery has been especially active in this area and, to date, 1,600 clinical nurse specialist and advanced nurse practitioner posts have been created.
My Department gave approval in late 2003 to the roll out, on a national basis, of the health care assistant training programme. This is in fulfilment of a key recommendation of the commission on nursing. The main objective of the programme is to up-skill health care assistants so that, working under the supervision of nurses, they are enabled to take on a wider range of duties, thereby freeing up nursing resources to concentrate on exclusively nursing tasks.
I am confident that the extensive range of measures I have outlined, including the substantial increase in training places, the recruitment of overseas nurses, the more effective utilisation of the professional skills of nurses and midwives, in addition to close monitoring and assessment of the situation on an ongoing basis, will continue to prove effective in addressing the nursing workforce needs of the health services.
In relation to predictions of an increase in nurse vacancies over the next 18 months, the lack of a cohort of nurse graduates in autumn 2005 is obviously a challenge for the health service. The difficulty arises because nurse education is moving from a three year diploma programme to a four year degree programme in line with the recommendations of the commission on nursing. The final cohort of diploma students graduated recently and the first cohort of degree students will graduate in autumn 2006.
Officials from my Department are in touch with senior nurse managers throughout the country on a regular basis and discussions indicate that the problem of a lack of graduates in 2005 will manifest itself in early 2006. As there will be a cohort of graduates available by early autumn 2006, the problem has a relatively short life span. A working group representing health service employers and officials from my Department was established last April to examine the issue and provide advice to employers on addressing potential shortfalls. Workforce planners in each health board are liaising with directors of nursing and human resource managers to ensure the sufficient staffing resources are available during the period from late 2005 to autumn 2006.
Current vacancies in ICU and accident and emergency units for each hospital are shown in the table below.
|
Hospital
|
ICU Vacancies
|
A&E Vacancies
|
|
Adelaide & Meath Hospital Incorporating the National Children's Hospital
|
1.3 WTE
|
2.6 WTE
|
|
St Vincent’s University Hospital
|
0 WTE
|
6 WTE
|
|
Mater Hospital
|
12.42 WTE
|
8 WTE1
|
|
Beaumont Hospital
|
2 WTE
|
6 WTE
|
|
James Connolly Memorial Hospital
|
5 WTE
|
5.5 WTE
|
|
St James Hospital
|
29 WTE
|
1.5 WTE
|
|
Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children, Crumlin
|
20.5 WTE
|
1 WTE2
|
|
Temple Street Hospital
|
2 WTE
|
2 WTE
|
|
Loughlinstown Hospital
|
4.6 WTE3
|
3.7 WTE4
|
|
Naas Hospital
|
5
|
8
|
|
Midland Regional Hospital Portlaoise
|
0
|
0
|
|
Midland Regional Hospital Tullamore
|
0
|
25
|
|
Midland Regional Hospital Mullingar
|
3
|
26
|
|
Mid-Western Regional Hospital, Limerick
|
0
|
1
|
|
Mid-Western Regional Hospital, Ennis
|
0
|
0
|
|
Mid-Western Regional Hospital, Nenagh
|
0
|
0
|
|
Our Lady’s of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda
|
67
|
0
|
|
Our Lady’s Hospital, Navan
|
0
|
0
|
|
Louth County Hospital
|
0
|
0
|
|
Cavan General Hospital
|
—
|
0
|
|
Monaghan General Hospital
|
—
|
—
|
|
Letterkenny General Hospital
|
3
|
2
|
|
Sligo General Hospital
|
0
|
4
|
|
Wexford General Hospital
|
0
|
0
|
|
Waterford Regional Hospital
|
0
|
0
|
|
Our Lady’s Hospital, Cashel
|
0
|
0
|
|
Sth. Tipperary General Hospital
|
0
|
0
|
|
St Luke’s Hospital, Kilkenny
|
0
|
1.5 WTE8
|
|
Cork University Hospital
|
0
|
19
|
|
Kerry General Hospital
|
0
|
0
|
|
Mallow General Hospital
|
0
|
0
|
|
Bantry General Hospital
|
1.46 WTE
|
—
|
|
Mercy Hospital
|
510
|
0
|
|
South Infirmary/Victoria Hospital
|
0
|
0
|
|
Roscommon County Hospital
|
—
|
0
|
|
Portiuncula Hospital, Ballinasloe
|
0
|
0
|
|
Mayo General Hospital, Castlebar
|
0
|
0
|
|
University College Hospital, Galway
|
0
|
0
|
1 6 WTE Staff Nurses, 1 WTE Clinical Nurse Manager 2 and 1 Clinical Nurse Specialist.
2 1 WTE Clinical Nurse Manager 3.
3 1 new staff member to commence end of November 2004.
4 2 new staff members to commence by mid November 2004.
5 Post currently advertised.
6 Post currently advertised.
7 Adult ICU — Six vacancies at present which will be filled on 5th November. There is no designated Paediatric ICU.
8 1.5 WTE A&E posts just vacant and being advertised at the weekend.
91 vacant Clinical Nurse Manager 2 post in A&E, Cork University Hospital — competition is currently underway to fill this vacancy.
10There are 5 specialist vacancies in ICU/CCU, Mercy Hospital, Cork which are currently filled by General Nurses. An external agency has been contacted to fill existing specialist posts.
