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Donegal hit by nursing cuts 15.12.08

MAJOR cuts in the student nurse intake in Letterkenny and the wider North West have been slated by a local MEP.
Marian Harkin MEP said the cut in student nurse places in the region was higher than the national average.
“In the North West, undergraduate nurse education places had been slashed, with Saint Angela’s in Sligo cut by 25% for general nursing and 40% for Intellectual Disability nursing," said Ms Harkin.
“This compares with an average 16.5% cut across the country and is unacceptably discriminatory. “Together with the cuts in Castlebar and Letterkenny, the student nurse intake in the North West would reduce to a level which would cause severe problems in the face of an ageing population and an increase in chronic illness throughout the region."
The North West MEP last week facilitated a number of health care professionals to attend the launch in Brussels of a European Commission consultation called ‘A Health Workforce for Europe’.
“According to the EU, we should not be filling gaps by recruiting (nurses) from poorer countries.
"Ireland is going directly against EU Health policy by cutting
HSE Ballyshannon; Marian Harkin MEP; Edel McSharry, St. Angela’s College, Lough Gill and Geraldine Murray, head of Nursing and Health Sciences, GMIT Castlebar.
the numbers of training places for nurses. The problem facing nursing is that education funding comes from the HSE while all other third level education is financed by the Higher Education Authority which means that nursing education takes a double hit from the HSE and the 3% third level cuts," added Ms. Harkin.
She called on Health Minister Mary Harney to reinstate the intake of student nurses in Sligo, Castlebar and Letterkenny as a "vital measure in ensuring the future health prospects of the people of the North West".
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