Written answers

Tuesday, 31 March 2015

Photo of Michael McGrathMichael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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522. To ask the Minister for Health his views on correspondence (details supplied) regarding recruitment of nurses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13309/15]

Photo of Kathleen LynchKathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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About 1,500 nurses complete the nursing degree programme in Ireland annually. This is considered necessary to maintain numbers at the level required to support service delivery. Retention of these graduates has been an issue for both the private and public health system, due to the moratorium on recruitment.

One source of supply is the recruitment of nurses trained outside of Ireland. Such nurses are required to register with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI). According to the NMBI it takes up to 90 days to assess qualifications in this context provided all necessary documentation has been supplied by the applicant. The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland following assessment of qualifications may require an applicant nurse to undertake a period of adaptation of assessment as a pre-requisite to registration.

In 2014 the HSE facilitated 151 nurses to complete such a period of adaptation for the private nursing home sector, and 195 places will be available in 2015. Nursing Homes Ireland has requested a further 272 places in 2015 to meet the needs of nursing homes, but there is no capacity for additional placements onto the nationally coordinated programme.

Discussions on possible alternative approaches for the provision of clinical adaptation are scheduled for the coming weeks between Nursing Homes Ireland, the HSE Office of the Nursing and Midwifery Services Director and the Office of the Chief Nursing Officer of the Department of Health.

With regard to the requirement for workforce planning Action 46 of Future Health: (DoH, 2012)commits the Department of Health to work with the HSE to implement an approach to workforce planning and development that achieves the objectives of recruiting and retaining the right mix of staff; training and upskilling the workforce; providing for professional and career development; creating supportive and healthy workplaces. This approach will include the development by the Department of Health of a national integrated strategic framework for health workforce planning during 2015.

My Department will convene a cross-sectoral Working Group to develop the national integrated strategic framework in the near future. Preparation of terms of reference is well advanced and consultation with key stakeholders will form part of the Group’s work.

A review of the Nursing Homes Support Scheme will be completed very soon. The review, as well as considering how the Scheme has operated to date, will also consider broader issues including the future financing of the full range of supports for older people, how community and residential supports and services should be balanced, and how prices are set for residential care. This Review will be publicly available in due course.

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