Nurses have key role in delivering new and modern Health Service - McGimpsey

Health Minister Michael McGimpsey said that he was disappointed that a debate on the vital contribution of nurses had been turned into a political point scoring exercise.

Speaking at the Assembly today on a motion on nursing levels the Minister said that nurses are fundamental to high quality healthcare. He continued:

"Shifting our focus from providing care in hospital to caring for people in their own communities means fewer staff delivering hospital services. It means nurses bringing their skills and expertise to treat and care for people in their own homes. That is exactly what the population want.

"I am committed to investing in the front-line but we need to realise that the front-line is moving into the community. I have demonstrated this by the extra funding going into the management of chronic diseases, our reform of mental health and learning disability services and more services in the community for our growing elderly population."

The Minister challenged the Assembly to acknowledge that it is time for everyone to face up to their responsibilities.

He continued: "We have to get real - this debate is not just about numbers of nurses but about the health care of our current population and future generations. It is not as if I have not warned everyone of the difficulties the Health and Social Care service faces in trying to make some £700 million of efficiency savings by 2011. Particularly given that health will by then have a funding gap of around £600 million compared to England."

Turning to claims that all efficiency savings could be achieved without impacting on staffing levels, the Minister said:

"Health and Social Care is delivered by people. The reality is that almost two-thirds of our spend is on staff costs. It is naïve to assume that efficiency savings of this magnitude can be achieved by simply tinkering with the system. Those people who make such claims need to live in the real world.

"We cannot achieve efficiencies of this scale without an impact on how our staff deliver services to meet ever-changing needs. I am determined to protect the welfare of staff who serve us with commitment and professionalism. That is why I have made it clear that I do not expect compulsory redundancies."

The Minister said he was also committed to maintaining the numbers of nursing students, he continued:

"I have invested an extra £2.2m to providing support to students in the clinical areas. I have also addressed shortages of midwives by increasing the numbers of Midwifery students and making more resources available to increase capacity.

"As Minister I am determined to do the right thing, to reform and modernise in order to deliver the services that people need.

Media queries to DHSSPS Press Office on 02890 520074, or out of office hours please contact the Duty Press Officer via pager number 076 9971 5440 and your call will be returned.