Dr. Pat Nash:

Recruitment, particularly as highlighted by Ms Cowan, in model 3 hospitals is very challenging. I am talking about consultant and non-consultant hospital doctor recruitment. We are looking at developing shared posts and providing shared posts with sessions in the model 4 hospital that will be key in the group. Again, geography will be the challenge there. We are struggling, and we have come up with a number of innovations. We have the first cross-Border appointment involving a cardiologist working between Letterkenny and Altnagelvin. We will be looking to that in the future, particularly for Letterkenny. In respect of the operational side, on a day-to-day basis, one of the critical issues in recruitment is in nursing, particularly theatre nursing. This is holding back our capacity to perform surgery, more so than beds. In any one day, we have rolling theatre closures where theatres are closed due to lack of capacity. This is due to a lack of available trained staff. We are actively recruiting. It is not just a west of Ireland issue. It will be more challenging in the more rural areas and smaller hospitals but it is a huge issue.