More than 1,300 frontline nursing posts are empty because of a HSE ban on recruitment, it was revealed yesterday.
The figures from the Irish Nursing and Midwives Organisation (INMO) showed 1,317 funded jobs have been left vacant in Ireland’s acute hospitals.
It also revealed 17% of funded staff midwife posts are now vacant, with 284 vacancies in a workforce of 1,687.
The INMO points to the HSE’s recruitment “pause” as the key driver of unfilled posts.
The union met with the HSE on Friday evening to call for curtailment of services until staffing reaches safe levels.
INMO general secretary Phil Ni Sheaghdha said: “The figures are stark, thE Government are refusing to fill frontline healthcare posts.
“Make no mistake, this will lead to compromised patient care and staff burnout.
“Midwifery is being hit particularly hard by the Government’s recruitment ban. One in six posts are left vacant.
“Even if we filled all of these, we would still fall far short of the safe staffing levels promised by the Government.
“Midwifery vacancies disproportionately affect women.
“This is yet another unwelcome example of Government’s approach to women’s health.
“Graduating nurses and midwives are considering their employment options as we speak.
“Yet despite repeated public promises from the Health Minister that they would
all have full-time permanent jobs upon graduation, the majority have not received offers or contracts.
“Irish graduating nurses and midwives are now being turned away from understaffed hospitals.
“The recruitment ban has got to go. It breaches agreements with the INMO, drives up agency costs, puts frontline staff under extra pressure and puts patients’ lives
at risk.
“Until we can get staffing up to safe levels, we are calling on the HSE to scale back services and close many non-essential wards.
