THE new monthly performance measure for hospitals has highlighted huge divergences in absenteeism rates for nurses across the country, with up to 9% of hours lost in one Co Galway hospital in the first month of 2009.

Nursing absenteeism rates in the main Dublin hospitals in January peaked at a relatively moderate 4.5%, but the rate for Portiuncula Hospital in Ballinasloe was a staggering 9% – nearly three times the 3.5% target set by the Health Services Executive (HSE).

The absenteeism rate for nurses in Mayo, Sligo and Limerick hospitals was 8%, 7.9% and 7.5% respectively, according to the HSE's 'Healthstat', which was published last week and measures performances of the country's 29 main hospitals in a range of areas, including waiting times for operation and quality of care.

The rates for absenteeism among general support staff in hospitals were even more startling. In Navan, for example, the rate was 20%, meaning one day a week was lost on average. However, the rate of nursing absenteeism in that hospital was just 5%, bringing the overall average down to 6%.

Asked to comment on the reason for the divergence in levels of absenteeism among nurses from hospital to hospital, Irish Nurses Organisation general secretary Liam Doran cited two potential factors: a different age profile in hospitals such as Portiuncula, Mayo and Sligo, and lower staffing levels in those hospitals, which tended to have more long-term medical cases.

With less than 300 nursing staff in, for example, Portiuncula, the long-term absence of four or five staff could "significantly skew" the graph, Doran said. In contrast, hospitals such as Tallaght or St James's had over 1,000 nurses.

Commenting on the Portiuncula figure, a statement from the HSE said "at the time these figures were compiled, five assistant directors of nursing were on long-term sick leave. At present, four remain on long-term sick leave. One of these has been deemed fit within the past week to return to work by occupational health, but has declined to do so."

In a statement released by the board earlier this month, the HSE?said the five assistant directors of nursing had refused to co-operate with an external consultant engaged to assess the situation after the hospital became aware of "working difficulties" within the senior nursing management team.