Bríd Smith
Ceist:27. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Health his plans to ensure the retention and recruitment of nurses is successful in the coming period. [12410/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraWednesday, 13 March 2019
Ceisteanna (27)
Freagraí scríofa
Recruitment and retention of nursing staff in the public health service continues to be a priority for the Government. It is a significant challenge given a backdrop of global shortages in health professionals and international competition for nursing staff trained in Ireland.
Considerable progress has been made in growing and retaining the nursing workforce in recent years.
The report setting out progress on implementation of the Nursing Recruitment and Retention Agreement shows that there has been a significant growth in the appointment of nurses and midwives with 942 WTE additional nursing posts in 2017, including student nurses.
The HSE has continued to recruit additional nurses and midwives to the workforce. 867 additional nurses and midwives were recruited in 2018 (834 excluding student nurses). Recruitment is continuing into 2019. This, however, must be on an affordable basis in the context of the funding resources allocated and the provisions of the HSE National Service Plan 2019.