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Hospital Staff Data

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 December 2013

Wednesday, 18 December 2013

Ceisteanna (260)

Bernard Durkan

Ceist:

260. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Health the extent to which junior hospital doctors, nurses and consultant staff are available throughout the public hospital sector with particular reference to the need to ensure compliance with the working time directive; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54695/13]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

All staffing arrangements have to be considered in the light of the current budgetary pressures in the health service and the need to reduce the numbers employed throughout the public sector. Nonetheless, it is open to the HSE to continue to recruit NCHDs, nurses and consultant staff in circumstances where it has been established that there is an urgent service requirement and the recruitment can be accommodated within the budgetary and staff number limits in place. The number of consultants working in the public health sector has increased significantly in recent years, as this grade was exempt from the moratorium. At present, there are over 2,500 consultants, an increase of over 40% in the last decade, and the HSE continues to approve new posts and to recruit to fill vacant posts.

With regard to NCHDs, there is a recognised need to progress compliance, given the extent to which many currently exceed the provisions of the Directive. This is being addressed as a priority by HSE and hospital management. The immediate focus, involving the HSE, hospital management, the IMO and NCHDs, is on eliminating shifts in excess of 24 hours. In certain specialties the NCHD staff required are in short supply internationally. System reform, in particular the implementation of the Report on Hospital Groups and the Framework for the Development of Smaller Hospitals will assist, through achievement of a more focused and efficient deployment of NCHD staffing.

I am committed to improving the working-conditions of NCHDs, to ensuring that they can have a suitable career pathway within the Irish health system and to making all posts as attractive as possible. In July this year, I set up a working group chaired by Professor Brian MacCraith, President of DCU, to carry out a strategic review of the medical training and career structure of NCHDs. I see this as a modernising initiative which is needed urgently and which will, in future years, support the retention of sufficient numbers of doctors trained in Ireland within the system. I have recently received the interim report of the Group, to be published shortly, and the final report is to be submitted to me by June 2014.

The number of nurses engaged in the public health service has reduced over the past four years in accordance with Government policy, arising from the requirement that the numbers employed across the public service must be reduced in order to meet fiscal and budgetary targets. Nonetheless, there is a high degree of compliance across the nursing sector with the Directive. Again, the HSE can make essential appointments where it is essential to do so. It is currently undertaking an intensive recruitment campaign to recruit theatre nurses, given current shortages and the importance of filling these posts.

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