Discriminatory new entrant consultant proposals will perpetuate vacancies and delays for patients
28th January, 2015: The Irish Hospitals Consultants Association today said the HSE’s plans to offer discriminatory employment terms to potential applicants will fail to attract and retain the number of high calibre consultants urgently needed to provide care to patients who are already enduring unacceptable delays and waiting lists.
Commenting on the recently revised proposals Dr Gerard Crotty, President of the IHCA, said there is no credible support for the proposals which represent a 20% salary cut for new entrant consultants, on a like for like basis after 4 years in post, and which fail to deliver parity even after 9 years. He said the proposals undermine trust. Furthermore, the proposals will perpetuate consultant vacancies and continue to undermine the provision of timely care for patients.
Dr Gerard Crotty said: “These revised proposals will drive potential new consultants abroad who expect parity with their colleagues because they have the same demanding responsibilities for the delivery of high quality patient care. This is a major concern for acute services which have in excess of 250 consultant vacancies that cannot be filled. Hospitals throughout the country have consultant posts vacant in specialties which already had low numbers of consultants on a per capita basis to start with, making it impossible to continue to provide safe high quality care to patients. This has already impacted adversely on patient care and safety.”
Dr Crotty added that the lack of meaningful discussions with the IHCA, which represents over 85% of all hospital consultants, mean the proposals lack credibility. He said that the proposals cannot be trusted as the criteria and targets for increments are subjective and dependent on the provision of sufficient resources to treat patients and this is of major concern given repeated breaches of the terms of the 2008 Contract by the State and the health service management since 2008.
ENDS