Registered nursing and midwifery staff make up the highest number of vacancies within Northern Irelands health service, according to the latest data.
The Department of Health has published its Health and Social Care (HSC) workforce census for 2024 providing an analysis of staff in post across the five health trusts.
At June 30 2024, HSC NI had 5,392 vacancies actively being recruited – a vacancy rate of 6.4%.
The Registered Nursing and Midwifery staff group made up the highest proportion at 22.5%.
Despite this, the workforce has grown by 23% since 2014.
Of the 1,211 vacancies, 61 relate to midwives, giving a vacancy rate of 4.5% compared to a high of 9.3% in June 2021.
Karen Murray, NI Director of the Royal College of Midwives, cautiously welcomed the latest data.
“If these latest figures truly represent all vacancies being actively recruited across the Trusts, and assuming that the number of midwives needed in the service is correct, this is a positive step in the right direction, however some services will still be running well below capacity,” she said.
“We are pleased to see that there has been an increase in midwifery students over the last number of years which is now beginning to have an impact on the numbers of unfilled vacancies.
“If midwifery is to be seen as an attractive career option, we must continue to focus on the retention of experienced senior midwives and on supporting new midwives as they enter the profession.”
In contrast, the nursing and midwifery support workforce saw a 2% decline in staff, with 4,426 wholetime equivalent (WTE) staff in March 2024 compared to 4,500 in March 2023.
The Belfast HSC Trust had the highest number of vacancies actively being recruited with 1,455.
All regional HSC Trusts reported a decrease in vacancies between 30 June 2023 and 30 June 2024, with the largest recorded in the Southern HSC Trust (30.8%), followed by Belfast (26.1%), Northern (24.9%), Western (24.3%), and South Eastern (23.3%) HSC Trusts.
Overall, the HSC workforce grew by 22% (11,898.5 WTE) between 2015 and 2024.
Rita Devlin, Executive Director of RCN Northern Ireland, said while on paper there is rise in the numbers of nursing staff, no nurse would say that it feels like there are more staff
“When patient numbers and demand are so high and the service is under such pressure, it is clear that the numbers of nursing staff are not rising in line with current demand,” she said.
“The fact that the vacancy level is still so high in nursing reflects this and we have a long way to go before this situation is rectified. The RCN has raised concerns with HSC employers about why the vacancy rate is still so high and if there are recruitment issues which are stopping posts being filled.
“We are also concerned about the stagnation and decline of registered nurses in some areas of practice. For example, the learning disability nursing workforce has fallen by 25% since 2011. It is crucial that we address these issues and ensure we have a workforce that is fit for purpose.”
