16 permanent jobs on the way for nurses in Mayo University Hospital

MAYO University Hospital is offering permanent positions to 16 graduate nurses, it has been announced.

Fine Gael Senator Michelle Mulherin said: “I am delighted that Mayo University Hospital is able to announce these 16 permanent jobs to graduate nurses.

“Saolta University Health Care Group (formally West/North West Hospitals Group) initially offered nursing graduates/interns only a three-month contract from October 2017 and when they were challenged, this offer was revised to offer two year contracts.

“This offer was not in accordance with Government policy which was being implemented by other health care groups.

“This is an issue I have been fighting on for months. More recently I raised the issue with Minister Harris who has taken up the issue with the HSE.

“Under an Agreement reached with INMO/SIPTU in March all graduating nurses and midwives were to be offered permanent contracts.

“This is HSE policy and was highlighted by the Minister at the time as a concrete measure to stem the flow of graduate nurses out of the country.

“I am delighted to be informed that the 16 graduate nurses in Mayo University Hospital are to be written to this week offering permanent positions,” the Fine Gael Senator said.

“We need to stop these badly needed graduate nurses from heading abroad to work once qualified. In recent times nurses and graduates have been getting much better offers in the UK than temporary contracts here in Ireland.

“The INMO survey confirmed that many graduate nurses intended to travel abroad for work and this measure is intended to stem the flow.

“We know the HSE has published the Health Services People Strategy 2015-2018 in response to the depletion in numbers of front-line health care workers, especially nurses. We know the executive is having difficulty in achieving targets in recruitment.

“This is because people have retired and young graduates are going abroad. An Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation study showed that many young nursing graduates intend to work abroad and that the net increase in nursing staff numbers from September to December this year was only a net figure of 13.

“Clearly, there is a major problem here.

“According to WHO official speaking at international health conference in RDS this week the situation will only get worse with Brexit as UK's NHS tries to poach our graduates,” said Senator Mulherin.