According to the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO), hospital consultants are operating at full stretch, and the introduction of a new public-only contract will not, by itself, rectify the enduring difficulties plaguing the healthcare service. The contract aiming to exclude private healthcare from public provision also seeks to boost the availability of senior decision makers at the hospitals during out-of-office hours and weekends.
However, Damien McCallion, the chief operations officer at the HSE, earlier expressed the need to display evidence of “weekend and extended day working arrangements” within defined regions. He relayed this message to hospital and CHOs chief executives. McCallion pointed out that a monitoring group at the national level has been formed to supervise the contract enforcement and noted a significant number of locations where the benefits seem negligible despite the switch to the contract by a substantial number.
In its response on Friday, the IMO mentioned that the assumption that significant improvements will be clearly visible in the healthcare service due to consultants continually working in strange hours is unrealistic. Professor Matthew Sadlier, the head of the Consultants’ Committee at the IMO, warned that if consultants are mandated to work at unusual hours then usual clinics would have to be cancelled, as there is a substantial shortage of doctors for cover.
Professor Sadlier emphasised that the system currently lacks the ability to offer optimal care. This comes as a result of a severe bed shortage, limited access to diagnostic procedures, and an overwhelming backlog of patients on the waiting list. He claims, there’s “no wriggle room” unless more monetary resources are dedicated towards increasing the number of doctors and beds, and if significant structural adjustments and realignment are not made. He further highlighted that the austere shortfall in hospital bed occupation levels is perilously creating serious overcrowding across the system.
The latest data reveals that almost 50% of consulting staff are now employed under the new public-only consultant agreement. This contract, which was launched in March of the previous year, faced opposition from both the IMO and the Irish Hospital Consultants’ Association.
The contract stipulates that consultants could be required to work from 8am to 10pm, Monday through Friday, and 8am to 6pm on Saturdays, totalling to their standard 37-hour work week. Any private tasks undertaken by them must be carried out beyond these scheduled working hours and outside of the public facilities.
The basic salary as per the contract ranges from £187,706 to £225,432, using the six-point scale, in addition to extra pay for on-call responsibilities and overtime. Support for continued medical training and research is also provided.