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.<\/p>\n
In all, 612 extra annual places have been created in what Minister for Further and Higher Education James Lawless<\/a> described as the largest expansion of healthcare education places in the State\u2019s history.<\/p>\n These new places will be across nursing, midwifery, medicine, pharmacy, dentistry and veterinary medicine.<\/p>\n Ireland has a significant healthcare workforce gap, which is projected to get worse as the population continues to grow and get older.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n The extra places will be available through Central Applications Office<\/a> (CAO) entry and other pathways into higher education, helping more students to access healthcare professions.<\/p>\n They will be in place for the next round of the CAO, benefiting students entering their Leaving Certificate<\/a> year next month.<\/p>\n It is envisaged the courses will support workforce needs across hospitals, primary care, disability services and community healthcare settings.<\/p>\n Lawless said the delivery of these additional places would meeta commitment in the programme for government to expand healthcare training capacity.<\/p>\n \u201cFor 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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill<\/a> said the expansion would \u201cstrengthen the pipeline of skilled health and social-care professionals needed for the future\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe 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\u2019s future health and social care needs,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n