The spending cuts will not pose any danger on the jobs of nurses, the Health Minister has said. It had been claimed by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) that to save money, 1,300 jobs in Northern Ireland, including 500 nursing posts, could be cut in a bid.

But now, it has been assured by Michael McGimpsey that there are no plans to decrease the nursing staff. This assurance was given, after a UK-wide Frontline First campaign had been organized by RCN, to tell more about the dangers on the services.

A 2% cut was lately announced by the Department of Health, in the Health and Social care pay bill. After this, the RCN's Director of Nursing, Janice Smyth, said, “It is paramount that the health trusts engage with those delivering front line services as they know best where the efficiencies can be made”.

Also, since the policy of Health Department will no more use any bank or agency staff, so it’ll mean that now, no nurse will be replaced, whenever a gap appears in a rota, because of some illness or maternity. Plus, the Health Minister has assured that he is seeking £20bn of efficiency savings by 2014, which will be supportive for the healthcare services.