Acute hospital staff numbers need to increase ‘substantially’ as population ages

A substantial increase in acute hospital staff will be needed by 2035 – driven by the country’s aging population, a new report has found.

Workforce requirements for all staff categories in publicly-funded acute hospitals are set to increase, according to the latest analysis by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).

The report stated: “Workforce requirements for all staff categories examined are projected to increase substantially by 2035.

“The largest increases in workforce are projected for health and social care professionals who are particularly required by older people in hospital.”

Nationally, the ESRI projects the population to rise by almost 500,000 to 5.4 million people by 2035.

The number of people aged 85 years and older is projected to more than double.

By 2035, the ESRI projected between 2,575 and 3,236 more medical staff will be needed, representing an increase of up to 2.1% on average per annum.

Additional nursing and midwifery staff of between 5,726 and 8,868, nationally will be needed, also representing an increase of up to 2.1% on average per annum.

Up to 3,277 additional healthcare assistants and health and social care assistants are also expected to be required nationally, representing an increase of 2.9% on average per annum.

The largest projected increases in workforce requirements are recorded for regions located in the east of the country.

The research, funded by the HSE, focused on acute public hospitals workforce requirements across the country between 2019 and 2035.

ESRI report author Dr Conor Keegan said: “The findings show that expansion of public acute hospital workforce will be required across all regions and all staff categories examined in this report.

“In the context of ongoing Slaintecare implementation, policymakers will need to consider how workforce supply can be increased to meet these demand pressures.”

HSE national director of human resources Anne Marie Hoey said the findings raise “important considerations” in terms of acute workforce investment, workforce planning and training over the coming years.

She said: “The workforce projections, provided on a regional basis, better inform our decisions and resource planning for the RHAs will be a critical enabler for our joint discussions on workforce planning both with our funders and stakeholders.

“Furthermore, this will facilitate the medium and longer-term planning necessary in areas such as training and education to ensure the availability of graduates to fulfil the workforce requirements within the domestic market.”

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said: “This report makes a key contribution to inform the needs of the health sector for the future in the context of the wider work in strategic workforce planning being undertaken in my Department.

“It informs our efforts to ensure the availability of suitably qualified individuals across a range of healthcare disciplines to support integrated care across the health service.”