Ms Deirdre Kenny:

Across the board, yes. We talk about the 100 posts and where that will fit. I suppose that is where the workforce planning really needs to be done and the audit around the country of how different services are resourced and how they are operating. We are relying on anecdotal evidence because we do not have an audit of what is working well around the country. It would be useful to conduct such an audit.

In terms of whether one is going into work crossing one's figures hoping nobody will leave today, our managers conduct workforce planning as much as they can within their services. They know they have some clinicians who have been working with them for five years, are looking for promotional opportunities and are waiting on the next appropriate promotion coming. There are staff one might be looking at who one knows will be going when the right opportunity arises. No matter how much one might be supporting them and they might enjoy working in an area, they are obviously looking for that next step. One cannot replace that person until he or she leaves and one has gone through the forms. No matter how much one is prepared for staff leaving, one cannot shorten that time to replace them.