Regionalisation has created ‘different challenges’ for workforce planning – NDTP Director

The establishment of the six health regions has created “different challenges” for medical workforce planning, the Medical Director of HSE National Doctors Training and Planning (NDTP) has told the Medical Independent (MI).

Prof Anthony O’Regan was speaking at the recent NDTP medical workforce conference in Dublin.

Prof O’Regan told attendees that NDTP has been working against the backdrop of major “clinical governance changes”.

“The concept of the regions… [is] that there would be more autonomy in terms of planning,” Prof O’Regan told MI.

“So sometimes the initial stages of change can be difficult. But in the end hopefully it will be more effective, more accountable, more structured, better value for money.”

While restructuring might create short-term “stress”, Prof O’Regan said he hoped it would achieve “longer-term gain”.

He said NDTP was “very conscious” of how the national agenda of models of care will influence regional workforce planning.

The Medical Workforce Report 2025–2026 was launched at the conference.

In the foreword to the document, Prof O’Regan noted the number of doctors in postgraduate training has been increasing over recent years, guided by NDTP specialty-level workforce planning projections.

The report also noted that 40 per cent of NCHDs were in non-training posts in 2025.

The number of NCHDs in non-training posts continued to expand, although at a much slower rate than in the previous year.

Growth in these posts was 2 per cent in the 2024/2025 training year, compared to 11 per cent in 2023/2024. The number of NCHDs not on training schemes varies by specialty, with emergency medicine having the highest number.

The overall number of consultants employed in the health service has increased over the last five years, from 3,563 to 4,962, according to the report.

“I’m very optimistic about the retention of doctors,” Prof O’Regan told MI.

He noted the figures showed that 80 per cent of doctors who complete their specialist training in Ireland remain working in the country long-term. Retention was even higher among Irish-trained GPs, with more than 90 per cent continuing to work in general practice in Ireland.

“That is a very high retention rate,” Prof O’Regan said. See conference coverage.