Over 600 healthcare college places in pipeline

From September, 415 additional places will be created in higher education institutions, in medicine, pharmacy, occupational therapy, and other key healthcare disciplines.

More than 600 new college places will be announced in healthcare courses in a move designed to ease the staffing pressure in the sector.

Simon Harris, the Minister for Further and Higher Education, is to today announce 665 new college places in a range of courses.

He will also announce the roll-out of post-Leaving Cert courses to train speech and language therapist assistants in five Education and Training Boards (ETBs).

An estimated 120 students are expected on these programmes on the courses available in counties Cavan, Waterford, and Dublin.

From September, 415 additional places will be created in higher education institutions here, in medicine, pharmacy, occupational therapy, and other key healthcare disciplines.

This includes 60 additional medicine places, 205 new nursing and midwifery places, 20 new speech and language therapy places, and 24 new occupational therapy places, among others.

Following engagement between Queens University and Ulster University, 200 places in nursing will also be made available to students from the Republic of Ireland to be funded by the Department of Health.

A further 50 places will also be available in therapy disciplines at Ulster University.

This includes 20 places in occupational therapy and physiotherapy, and 10 places in speech and language therapy.

The Higher Education Authority will now oversee a process to identify how capacity can be expanded in the therapy disciplines.

This follows on from a similar previous process to identify additional capacity in medicine, nursing, dentistry, pharmacy and veterinary, and will take place later this year.

“Increasing the workforce is absolutely essential to addressing demands in the healthcare system and to improving access to the services people rely on,” Minister Simon Harris said.

“I am delighted to see the provision of places in Northern Ireland for students from the Republic of Ireland. “This is a great example of North-south collaboration to the benefit of all involved, and my officials will continue to work to build our relationships with higher education institutions in the North.

“I very much welcome the engagement of our universities in response to the call for additional capacity and look forward to building on the expansion announced today.

“Later this year, we will, in consultation with colleagues, initiate a process to increase places in the therapy disciplines on a more sustainable basis.” 

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said the move to increase the number of places is "critical to addressing the workforce needs for our health service.” 

“Working with the higher education sector I am seeking to double the number of undergraduate training places across medicine, nursing and midwifery and health and social care professions to meet the health workforce needs of our population," he said.

Disabilities Minister Roderic O'Gorman welcomed the move, adding that it is a "key priority" of the department to help "deliver much-needed interventions for children and cut the waiting lists for assessment of need", while Minister of State for Disability Anne Rabbitte said it's important that we have a clear pipeline of appropriately qualified people in the disability sector.