Patrick Nulty (Dublin West, Independent)
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213. To ask the Minister for Health the level of spending on agency nursing staff by the Health Service Executive to date in 2013; the measures he is taking to reduce this spend; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44019/13]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Agency staffing arrangements are intended to be used in the health service to address short-term needs, such as periods of staff absence for maternity leave or due to illness. In recent years there has been an increase in usage of such arrangements, which are expensive and not ideal from a continuity-of-care perspective. There are a number of measures in train to address the level of spending on agency nursing staff.

In the first instance, the Public Service Stability Agreement 2013 - 2016 (The Haddington Road Agreement) provides for staff throughout the health service staff to increase their working hours. The value ascribed to this element of the Agreement is in the region of five million hours annually for the health workforce as a whole. In the case of nurses and midwives, the standard working-week has increased from 37.5 to 39 hours. One of the principal ways in which this measure will lead to savings is to enable the service's reliance on agency staffing and overtime working to be reduced. My Department has emphasised to the HSE the need for a clear focus by managers on maximising the benefits in this regard.

The Haddington Road Agreement also provides for the implementation of the Graduate Nurse/Midwife Placement Initiative on an agreed basis with the health unions. Staff are currently being appointed under this scheme and the additional resource which they represent will also contribute to savings on agency and overtime expenditure. In addition, as part of the 2014 Estimates process it has been agreed that the HSE will establish a Nurse Bank. This measure will improve the continuity of nurse-provided care and will also reduce reliance on agency staffing. As the level of spending on agency nursing staff by the Health Service Executive to date in 2013 is an operational matter, it has been referred to the Executive for attention and direct reply to the Deputy.