A shortage of nurses has forced the HSE in the midlands to resort to billboarding public hospitals with advertisements in the desperate search for staff.

The drastic move came after several visits to recruitment fairs in both Dublin and London failed to secure enough nurses to fill the vacant slots at the Midland Regional Hospital in Mullingar.

"The Regional Hospital Mullingar currently has 30 vacancies in nursing and midwifery," Caroline Kohn, Group Communications manager with the Ireland East Hospital Group confirmed.

These vacant posts, she said, are currently covered by a combination of agency and overtime shifts.

"The recruitment for staff in nursing and midwifery is ongoing and is in line with the nursing and midwifery staff shortage across Ireland."

The situation has prompted hospital management in Westmeath to erect billboards advertising the vacancies at prominent locations on the exterior walls of Mullingar hospital.