HSE must act to halt exodus of health workers, urges recruiter

Irish health service urged to promote its vacancies to health workers in UK, where the crisis in healthcare is acute and morale among staff is at its lowest level in decades

Margaret Cox, director of Irish recruitment firm ICE Group, which works extensively in Australia, New Zealand and the US.

The Health Service Executive should ramp up its recruitment of UK-based health workers, and do far more globally to promote the benefits of living and working in Ireland, says a leading recruiter.

Margaret Cox is director of Irish recruitment firm ICE Group, which works extensively in Australia, New Zealand and the US. She said that, in her experience, doctors and nurses moving from Ireland to Australia do so primarily for a better lifestyle and working conditions; e.g. nurse-to-patient ratios of 1-4 to 1-6 in Oz versus 1-6 to 1-15 in Ireland, according to the IMNO.