A record number of places on third-level healthcare courses are to be offered from next year in an attempt to grow the workforce to meet the increased demands on the health system.
In all, 612 extra annual places have been created in what Minister for Further and Higher Education James Lawless described as the largest expansion of healthcare education places in the State’s history.
These new places will be across nursing, midwifery, medicine, pharmacy, dentistry and veterinary medicine.
Ireland has a significant healthcare workforce gap, which is projected to get worse as the population continues to grow and get older.
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Reports by the Economic & Social Research Institute have forecast a need for thousands more healthcare staff across a range of disciplines to meet this increasing demand for healthcare.
In recent years, staff, trade unions and representative bodies have criticised staffing shortages, particularly in hospitals, arguing these create patient safety risks and push those working in the area towards burnout.
Waiting times for many disciplines in the community and in acute hospitals are continuing to rise, which health officials have largely attributed to staffing deficits.
The approved healthcare education package, to be announced on Friday, will see 268 additional nursing and midwifery places annually; 151 extra pharmacy places; 80 additional veterinary medicine places; 78 more medicine places; and 35 extra dentistry places.
The extra places will be available through Central Applications Office (CAO) entry and other pathways into higher education, helping more students to access healthcare professions.
They will be in place for the next round of the CAO, benefiting students entering their Leaving Certificate year next month.
It is envisaged the courses will support workforce needs across hospitals, primary care, disability services and community healthcare settings.
Lawless said the delivery of these additional places would meeta commitment in the programme for government to expand healthcare training capacity.
“For people considering a healthcare career, this means more opportunities than ever before to access these programmes through the CAO, graduate-entry routes and new tertiary pathways,” he said.
Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said the expansion would “strengthen the pipeline of skilled health and social-care professionals needed for the future”.
“The continued expansion of health-related courses is creating new opportunities across a range of professions and helping to develop the health and social care workforce that will be essential to meeting Ireland’s future health and social care needs,” she said.
“In keeping with the objectives of Sláintecare, this expansion will help the continued delivery of high-quality care to people and communities across Ireland.”
The announcement follows initiatives to strengthen the supply of trained healthcare professionals in the State and to rebalance an over-reliance on recruiting professionals trained abroad.
Last month, the Government announced a separate package of proposals that aims to deliver 275 additional annual places across a range of priority healthcare and therapy disciplines.
In addition, the Government has been considering encouraging newly graduated doctors to stay in Ireland by funding of part or all the cost of their education in return for a commitment to them working for the HSE for a period.
Lawless asked officials to examine options to create a financial support scheme for graduate students, where the State would cover more of the upfront costs of studying medicine as a second degree.
