James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Mattie McGrath for raising this issue. I am glad to hear that he wants to be positive about his hospital. He has every reason to be.

Particular hospitals and specialties have experienced difficulties in filling medical non-consultant hospital doctor, NCHD, posts over the past number of years. Addressing this issue has been a priority for the health service and, as the Deputy will be aware, there have been a number of recruitment programmes internationally. As a result, over the past three years, 98% of NCHD posts have been filled normally. Where staffing issues exist, there remain sufficient agency staff to meet service needs. This means that the hospital system is operated successfully with a small ongoing vacancy level in recent years. I want to reduce agency working even further and I fully intend to do so.

The total complement of NCHDs for South Tipperary General Hospital is 20 - that is, six interns, seven senior house officers, SHOs, and seven registrars. Of the seven medical registrar posts, four are specialist registrar posts and the remaining three are registrar posts. Currently in the hospital there are 17 NCHDs - five interns, seven SHOs and five registrars. A comprehensive process of recruitment has been under way in respect of the July 2013 intake since earlier this year. South Tipperary General Hospital has already recruited six interns and six SHOs, with the final post in the process of being filled. However, as the Deputy pointed out, we are experiencing a challenge in securing the necessary registrar posts, which have been allocated on a national basis by the Irish College of Physicians. There are difficulties nationally in the recruitment of specialist registrars - that is, there are more vacant posts than registrars. As a result, no specialist registrars were allocated by the Irish College of Physicians to South Tipperary General Hospital for the July 2013 intake.

South Tipperary General Hospital, with the support of HSE South and the national HSE system, is working with the assistance of agencies to secure the necessary registrar posts for the hospital. Two registrars are considering offers currently but have not quite yet accepted the positions, while one registrar from South Africa has agreed to take up a post later on this year. The accelerated recruitment campaign is continuing with the intention of maximising what can be achieved through this process. In addition, senior management at South Tipperary General Hospital, in association with the HSE area manager for Carlow, Kilkenny and South Tipperary, are working closely with Cork University Hospital, Waterford Regional Hospital and St. Luke's General Hospital in Kilkenny with a view to securing their support for sharing the registrar posts in a way that would improve the situation in south Tipperary and ensure safe service delivery. This work is continuing. I can assure the Deputy that the matter is being addressed as a priority and progress has been kept under review on a daily basis.

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