Sir, – Further to Prof Seamus Cowman's article "HSE initiatives to recruit nurses to the Irish health service have failed" (Opinion & Analysis, August 27th), not only has the HSE failed to recruit and retain nurses, the HSE has also failed to ensure the training of an adequate number of nurses. In the recent announcement of CAO places, I noted with alarm that UCD had 197 places for undergraduate medicine, compared to a miserly quota of 134 for general nursing. The training of Irish nurses needs to be urgently prioritised, or the nursing workforce will continue to be further eroded. – Yours, etc,
TRIONA LUCEY,
Dublin 18.
