Colm Burke
Question:335. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Health what action his Department is taking to address the current shortage of physiotherapists in the HSE; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33307/23]
View answerThursday, 6 July 2023
Questions (335)
Written answers
Health and Social Care workforce planning and ensuring an appropriate pipeline of suitably qualified healthcare professionals is a top priority my department.
Department of Health officials engage on an ongoing basis with officials in the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science and other relevant stakeholders to ensure that we train enough graduates with the skills necessary to support the delivery of health and social care services and to develop a strategic approach to workforce planning for the health sector.
My department works with the Department of Further and Higher Education to increase the supply of health and Social Care graduates in the short term to medium term through the immediate provision of additional places, and the longer-term planning being undertaken around future skills needs in the context of future demand for health and social care services.
The Department of Health, working with Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science and the HSE, has secured increases in training numbers for 2023, including physiotherapy and this is set to expand further over the next number of years.
To address critical skills shortages the Department of Health Officials engage with the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment regarding employment permits for certain health professionals who are in short supply. In June 2022 changes were made to provide access to the Critical Skills Employment Permit for non-EEA nationals wishing to take up employment in Ireland in the health sector for a number of health and social care roles including physiotherapy.
Over the last three years, the HSE has increased its overall headcount by over 20,500 WTE of which 2,947 WTE are Health and Social Care Professionals and of which over 400 WTE are Physiotherapists.
The HSE has directly targeted all final year physiotherapy students in Irish Universities for employment in the HSE and the Section 39 organisations. The HSE has guaranteed permanent job offers to all graduates who are successful at interview. To supplement the national pool, the HSE has launched an international campaign to source physiotherapists from overseas. The HSE is directly targeting Irish trained physiotherapists who travelled overseas for employment in the Irish publicly funded health services.