Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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1583. To ask the Minister for Health if the regional nursing metric project officers pilot scheme will be rolled out on a national basis. [38731/13]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Nursing and midwifery metrics are an agreed standard of measurement that provides an indication of the quality of nursing and midwifery care delivery. Nursing and midwifery metrics are operational in a range of sites nationally.

In 2012 the HSE Office of Nursing and Midwifery Services led on an initiative to standardise nursing and midwifery metrics across 3 regions – North West, North East and Dublin North. To date 29 service areas are using metrics and reports in relation to the metrics are available to the relevant Directors of Nursing/Midwifery. Further roll out of this initiative has continued in 2013.

Measuring the quality of nursing and midwifery care is complex as there are many compounding factors that exist that impact on quality and patient safety. The aim of the HSE Office of Nursing and Midwifery Services is to support Directors of Nursing and Midwifery to utilise a standardised approach to nursing and midwifery metric measurement that will facilitate measurement, monitoring and trend analysis. Roll out of nursing and midwifery metrics is led by the Directors of Nursing/Midwifery within the relevant service areas. A range of metrics has been developed and roll out is determined by local service priorities.