Brain drain as nurses seek work overseas

MORE THAN 5,000 nurses based in Ireland have applied to work abroad in the past two years, according to figures produced by the Irish Nurses Organisation (INO).

In 2008, more than 2,800 applied for transcripts or permission to work abroad. That figure is likely to be matched this year as the Health Service Executive recruitment embargo continues to bite. By the start of November this year, 2,429 nurses had applied for transcripts.

INO director of professional development Annette Kennedy described the figures as “huge” and she forecast that the majority of the 1,600 nurses who graduated this year in Ireland will emigrate.

Hospitals in the south of England have begun to recruit dozens of Irish nursing graduates. To date this year, Whipps Cross hospital in south London has hired 132 nurses, while Kings College Hospital in south London, the Royal Berkshire hospital in Reading and hospital trusts in west and north-west London have also availed of the recruitment freeze in Ireland to attract staff.

Cathy Geddes, the director of nursing and quality at Whipps Cross hospital, described the recruitment drive as an “absolute godsend” to the hospital. “To get such large numbers in one recruitment drive has been great for us,” she said.

The majority of nurses are emigrating to the UK, Canada and Australia.

Ms Kennedy said UK hospitals were offering very attractive packages to Irish nursing graduates, even though the starting salary of around £20,000 (€22,000) is significantly less than their starting salary in Ireland (€31,000).

“They get London weighting allowance of £4,000 (€4,400), accommodation, mentorship for a year and guarantees that they will go on a course within six months. You wouldn’t turn it down,” she said.

She predicted that there will be severe labour shortages within the Irish health system in five years as the demand for nurses remains, despite the embargo.

“In Ireland, we do need the numbers we are training for the future. If we don’t retain those new graduates, and there is a substantial number of nurses retiring, as 30 per cent of them are over 50. There will definitely be shortages.

“We had massive recruitment from abroad between 2000 and 2006 and they are also leaving. They are worried about short-term contracts and cuts in their overtime.”

A report carried out by FAS in June estimated that there are currently 55,000 nurses in Ireland. It predicted that 60,600 will be needed by 2020 to keep up with population demands.

It also forecast that the health service will need an average of 2,900 nurses every year as it projects that 2,450 of them will, on average, leave annually and the expansion of services will generate a need for an additional 440 nurses.

Even with an average of 1,350 nurses graduating every year, it estimates that there will be a shortfall in the future somewhere in the region of 700 nurses a year.