Mayo graduate nurses left in limbo over jobs uncertainty

“When I started, I didn’t understand why so many nurses went to Australia. Now I can’t understand why anyone would stay in Ireland.”

Graduate nurses promised jobs at Mayo University Hospital have been told their appointments are on hold, with no date for when they can start.

The nurses were set to fill vacancies at the hospital but have now been told they cannot be added to the HSE payroll until the Department of Health signs off on the posts.

Some had already handed in notice to other employers in anticipation of starting the job. Others have signed year-long leases on rental accommodation in Castlebar.

An email sent to affected candidates last Friday by the hospital’s recruitment team, seen by The Connaught Telegraph, blames a recent change to recruitment pay bill approval rules.

It says appointments “must be paused pending receipt of the necessary Department of Health approval."

The pause applies, it says, even where a start date has been agreed or a candidate has begun their notice period.

The hospital says it has no timeline for approval. It adds that the pause is not a reflection of candidates’ suitability.

Three nurses spoke to The Connaught Telegraph on condition of anonymity. They said they were told weeks ago which ward they would work on, surgical or medical, and that the paperwork was largely complete.

One said the hospital contacted her last week to check her registration and vetting were in place, and told her to send them to the recruitment office. She had already resigned from her job in anticipation of starting at the hospital.

“If they told us there were no jobs, we could live with that and make arrangements,” she said. “Even if they said December or January, that would make sense. But it’s the unknowing, that’s the hardest part.”

Another said: “After four years, we have nothing to show for it. We are so willing to work.”

The nurses said they had signed an electronic document they believed was a contract. They now feel they have nothing to fall back on.

They said calls to the recruitment office on Friday went straight to voicemail.

The nurses also trained at the hospital. One said students were given their own bay of seven or eight patients, supervised by a nurse, and that staff sometimes took on more than 12 patients between them when a student was on the ward.

“It’s scary how understaffed it is,” she said.

Several want to work abroad, including in Australia. They need a year’s experience first, so cannot leave.

“We’re completely left in limbo, it’s so disheartening,” one said.

Another said: “When I started, I didn’t understand why so many nurses went to Australia. Now I can’t understand why anyone would stay in Ireland.”

In a statement, HSE West and North West said it has introduced measures since May 2026 to control pay expenditure “in response to its financial position."

It said recruitment decisions “must align with national pay and staffing controls and approved workforce allocations."

The HSE did not say how many candidates are affected, whether appointments have been paused, or when the nurses can expect to start.

Independent Councillor Harry Barrett said the pause was “a poor political decision” that is “affecting healthcare in this county."

He said the hospital has more than 50 nursing posts vacant.

Councillor Barrett called on Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill to reverse the decision and give the nurses an immediate assurance that they will be employed at the hospital.

Sinn Féin TD Rose Conway Walsh accused the government of introducing “further delays” in recruitment.

“The government is dressing up cuts and spending restriction in the health service as efficiencies,” she said. “This is no way to run a health service.”

She said staff covering vacant roles are burnt out.

In a statement, the Department of Health said new sanctioning arrangements have been introduced in four HSE regions, including the West and North West, “to strengthen control of the pay bill."

It said there are 307 graduate nurses and midwives in the region. Of these, 224 have been offered positions and 186 have accepted.

The department said recruitment “continues under these arrangements” and that work is ongoing to offer posts to the remaining graduates.

It said appointments, contracts and start dates, including at Mayo University Hospital, are a matter for the HSE.

It could not give a timeline for particular posts at the hospital, but expects the HSE to progress decisions “as quickly as possible."

Retaining newly qualified nurses and midwives “remains a priority”, it said.