Ann Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising the matter. I am taking this on behalf of the Minister for Health who is on government business elsewhere. The policy of the Government is to support older people to live in dignity and independence in their own homes and to keep them in their communities for as long as possible.If it becomes necessary for older people to move to a nursing home, appropriate accommodation must be available that meets their care needs and matches their wishes and preferences. The Health Service Executive, HSE, is responsible for the delivery of health and personal social services, including those at St. Brendan's community nursing unit, Ballinasloe, County Galway. Part of the HSE's long-term plan for the community nursing unit is to open all 50 beds, of which 25 will be long stay residential care beds and 25 will be short stay beds. I have been informed by the HSE that it has contacted the Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, to register this facility and while the process is under way, the plan is to open a further ten short stay beds, by December, depending on staffing. Subject to any requirement HIQA may have, it is a matter for the HSE to determine the staffing complement and the ratio of nursing to support staff. In this instance, the staffing levels have been agreed. However, there is a delay in appointing staff to the posts. The HSE established the National Recruitment Service, NRS, in 2009 as part of the policy of developing shared services. The current difficulties in sourcing nurses relate to shortages of potential nursing staff in Ireland and worldwide shortages, rather than a failing on the part of the NRS.

Notwithstanding the difficulties faced in recruiting nurses, I advise that an extra 578 whole-time equivalent nurses and midwives were employed between August 2014 and August 2015. In addition, the HSE is planning to recruit over 500 nurses across a number of nursing disciplines. There is significant work being undertaken to achieve this. It includes recent and ongoing national and local interviewing of all categories of nurses and midwives.

The HSE has also developed an international nurse recruitment project to fill posts. This initiative is a targeted recruitment drive in the United Kingdom, primarily focused on Irish trained nurses who left during the moratorium. There are plans to broaden the campaign. The HSE has also significantly increased multi-task attendant and health care assistant numbers. Including interns, the number of multi-task attendants has increased by 270 in the past 12 months and the number of health care assistants by 700.

I reaffirm the Government's commitment to the delivery of care at the most appropriate level, in particular the provision of nursing home care as an alternative to long stay acute hospital care, given the capacity pressures on the acute sector. The opening of additional beds in homes such as St. Brendan's community nursing unit will be pursued as a priority to support persons who can no longer live at home and those who do not require acute hospital care.