Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

31. To ask the Minister for Health if he is satisfied that the number of front-line medical staff at Mullingar Regional Hospital, County Westmeath, is adequate to meet the demands being placed on them; the number of permanent front-line medical staff in the hospital in 2012, 2013 and 2014; the number of agency staff employed in each of those years; the timeframe for any recruitment process, and if this is too long. [2395/15]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The HSE has advised that the current complement of NCHD and Consultants in Mullingar Regional Hospital is 106. This compares to 99 posts in July 2014, 102 posts in July 2013, and 99 posts in July 2012. Of these, 26 are Consultant posts and it is worth noting that there has been no reduction in the number of Consultant posts at the hospital since July 2012. Furthermore, the HSE has advised that new Consultant posts are anticipated in 2015. In this regard, the HSE has advised that there is a need to develop a new Consultant Geriatrician model that would assist in lowering nursing home referrals to the Emergency Department, given that approximately 2,500 bed days at the hospital are used by patients from nursing homes.

The number of NCHD and Consultant agency staff employed in the hospital is as follows: 5 WTEs in January 2015, 2 WTEs in July 2014 and 0.5 WTEs in July 2012. In relation to the timeframe for recruitment processes, the Consultant recruitment is a structured robust process, which may take some months to complete. There is also a new intake of NCHDs every 6 months.