The Public Service Pay Commission has published its report on difficulties with recruitment and retention of nurse, midwives and doctors in the health service. 

The commission examined issues in relation to consultants, non-consultant hospital doctors, nurses and midwives, and concluded that no generalised difficulty exists with regard to recruitment of nurses and midwives, but that some difficulties exist in meeting workforce requirements in specific areas.

The main findings of the report are:

• There is no generalised recruitment and retention problem in respect of nursing and midwifery but some difficulties exist in meeting workforce requirements in specific areas
• Promotion opportunities and training impact Non-Consultant Hospital Doctors (NCHD) turnover
• There is a general difficulty in recruiting consultants with certain locations and specialities experiencing more significant problems.

The commission said that it was not persuaded, based on the evidence available, that current pay arrangements are a significant impediment to recruitment. "Remuneration is not the main issue affecting recruitment and retention, where difficulties exist. It is apparent that where some recruitment and retention difficulties have been identified the causes of such difficulties are multifactorial.

“Current pay rates do not appear to be unduly affecting the number of nurses, midwives and doctors applying to work abroad. And in practice increasing pay may or may not be the most effective option for an employer that wishes to attract more staff.”

In Association with

Average Salaries

In relation to average salaries, the report notes that consultants earned an average of €180,000 in 2017, including overtime and other payments. The average earning for all HSE staff nurses and midwives was approximately €51,000, including allowances, overtime and other payments.

The average earnings for NCHDs in 2017 was in excess of €74,000, including overtime and other payments.

While the number of nurses and midwives has increased by an average of 2% per year since 2013, numbers are still 5.7% below the 2007 peak — 2,229 full-time positions. The figures for NCHDs rose 30% since 2007, while the number of consultants rose by 33%.

The report recommends that location allowances paid to nurses in 13 service areas in the health service should be increased by 20% and extended to cover maternity services, specialist qualification allowances should go up by 20%, and nurses or midwives should be eligible for senior grade after 17 rather than 20 years.

It did not make any specific recommendations on how to overcome the difficulties in recruiting consultants in certain specialised fields, or in certain locations around the country.