Government’s nursing recruitment drive failing

15 October 2017

Labour Party Health spokesperson Alan Kelly TD has criticised the low numbers of nursing staff being recruited by the HSE.

Deputy Kelly said:

“HSE figures show that there has been a net increase of just 13 nurses in the health service so far this year – despite a pledge to recruit 1,224 more full-time staff this year.

“This increase comes after the HSE’s much heralded campaign to target the 1,550 nursing graduates this year, of which only 200 chose to take a job with the HSE.

“These figures speak volumes about the working conditions of Irish nurses.

”Nurses in every hospital around the country are crying out for better working hours, pay and conditions. How can the HSE and the Minister for Health expect to attract an additional 100 nurses a month when there are people leaving the profession in droves because of the working conditions?

“We have a real opportunity with Brexit to recruit EU national nurses who are leaving the NHS. We could use Brexit to our advantage to bridge the gap in staff shortages across our health service. The HSE and the Government need to get their house in order when it comes to pay and conditions in order to attract these healthcare professionals.

“If we are to end the staffing crisis in our health service, the Government needs to be more proactive when it comes to attracting quality staff to our healthcare system and deal with the issues around pay and conditions.”

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