Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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1452. To ask the Minister for Health if his Department has considered the career development and deployment of nurses in hospitals, in order that this highly qualified group could deploy their skills in an optimal manner; whether staff surveys have been conducted to identify sources of difficulty for the profession; and if a longer term manpower policy for deployment of staff in the acute hospital setting is being evolved to match best practice internationally. [13548/23]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The Policy on the Development of Graduate to Advanced Nursing and Midwifery Practice (Department of Health, 2019), which aims to maximise the nursing and midwifery response to current and emerging health service challenges, creates a model that supports a defined career pathway for nurses and midwives from graduate to specialist and advanced practice roles. Our well-educated, highly skilled and experienced nurses and midwives are a valuable resource and the model outlines a broad-based approach to the education programme required for advanced practice.

In addition, the Enhanced Practice Nurse/Midwife contract, is a fundamental change in the role for the professions, provides an opportunity for nurses and midwives to optimise their skills, with a focus on the delivery of Sláintecare and the provision of care in the community.

The Report on the Expert Review Body on Nursing and Midwifery 2022 published in March 2022 contains 47 recommendations. My Department has commenced work on prioritised work programmes to deliver on these recommendations which will support nurses and midwives to continue to learn and develop in their professional roles, enabling significant reform and ensuring that critical Sláintecare priorities are achieved. Priorities for implementation include review and reform of the undergraduate training programme to deliver more capacity, alignment with delivering integrated nursing and midwifery care, increasing postgraduate training to expand career pathways for nurses and midwives in all healthcare settings and increasing care through digital solutions as well as recruitment and retention.

These additional clinical nurse and midwife specialist posts and advanced practice offer career pathways for nurses and midwives will optimise the nursing and midwifery contribution to meeting population health needs and support retention of our nursing and midwifery workforce, including new graduates. In November 2021, I requested that the number of nurses and midwives practicing at an advanced level across the health service be increased from 2% of the workforce to 3% over the next three years with additional funding of €11 million to support this. With this funding, 149 additional WTE Advanced Nurse/ Midwifery Practitioners (ANMP) were recruited in 2022 bringing the total numbers of ANMPs to 880. Budget 2023 has provided funding to recruit an additional 80 WTE ANMPs during 2023.

As the part of the question regarding whether staff surveys have been conducted to identify sources of difficulty for the nursing profession; and if a longer term manpower policy for deployment of staff in the acute hospital setting is being evolved to match best practice internationally, is an operational matter for the HSE, I have asked the HSE to respond to the Deputy directly on that particular element.