Staff shortages which have resulted in theatre closures and the cancellation of elective surgery in many of the State's acute hospitals are also affecting geriatric hospitals.
There are 38 nursing posts vacant at St Mary's Hospital in Dublin's Phoenix Park. The eastern region's Northern Area Health Board, which runs the 345-bed hospital, said these posts were not covered by agency nurses or by permanent nurses working overtime.
A spokesperson said the health board was experiencing difficulties in filling all nursing staff vacancies in St Mary's and in other hospitals and homes for older persons. To alleviate the difficulties this could cause, it has "contracted out 52 beds in private nursing homes".
Another facility for older persons, Bru Chaoimhin at Cork Street, Dublin, has been unable to take new long-stay admissions during the summer due to a shortage of nursing staff. A number of its beds have been closed.
However, a spokeswoman for the eastern region's South Western Area Health Board said it was planning to take admissions again this month.
Both health boards are engaged in a recruitment drive for nurses in the Philippines and Australia. "They are also examining a number of innovative options to assist in both recruitment and retraining of nursing staff," the spokeswoman said.
These "innovative options" include examining ways of giving nurses greater flexibility and making nursing for health boards as attractive as agency nursing.
The nursing shortage does not appear to have had as much impact on geriatric hospitals and homes outside the greater Dublin area. St Colman's Hospital, Rathdrum, Co Wicklow, for example, has no nursing vacancies.
Hospitals for older people in the midlands and south-east appear to have greatest difficulty in recruiting physiotherapists and occupational therapists. Some health boards also have difficulty finding nurses to cover for staff who are ill or on holidays.
The situation in different health board areas is as follows:
West: 1,502 geriatric beds and no staffing problems.
Mid-West: no shortage of nurses, although difficulties do arise from time to time in getting locum cover. The board has advertised for physiotherapists and got a good response. It has also advertised here and in the UK for a senior occupational therapist for St Ita's Hospital, Newscastlewest, Co Limerick.
Midlands: some difficulties in recruiting physiotherapists and occupational therapists.
South-East: very poor response to advertised vacancies for physiotherapists and occupational therapists.
North-East: difficulty recruiting nurses for locum cover.
North-West: 901 geriatric beds and no staffing problems.
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