IHCA President outlines stark realities to Taoiseach and Ministers on irreparable damage to Public Hospital Care

The Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) said that the Government must end the discrimination against new entrant Consultants before public hospital care and the population that depends upon it are irreparably damaged. The IHCA President, Dr Donal O’Hanlon, has taken the exceptional action of outlining the stark realities in letters to the Taoiseach, Ministers for Health, Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform and the main political party leaders and spokespersons on health, finance and expenditure. Dr O’Hanlon said that our acute hospital and mental health services will increasingly fail our patients due to the large number of approved permanent consultant posts that cannot be filled as a consequence of the discriminatory salary cuts imposed by the State on new entrant Consultants. 

“It is extremely important that the public is aware of the scale of the problem.  Acute hospitals are in a serious crisis with nearly 20% of permanent consultant posts not filled,” said Dr O’Hanlon. “Either the country’s political representatives are unaware of the scale of the problem or have been ignoring the fact that the State’s actions are preventing the filling of over 500 permanent Consultant posts throughout the country’s acute hospitals. On a population basis, Ireland has one of the lowest number of hospital consultants in the OECD, at approximately half the OECD average. It is clear that the Irish population and patients can ill afford to have nearly 20% of the approved permanent consultant posts unfilled due the actions of the State which is driving highly trained specialists to practise abroad.”

Dr O’Hanlon said that the State’s actions are proving extremely damaging for patients due to the unacceptable delays in the provision of hospital care which are leading to ever-increasing waiting lists levels never experienced previously. He said it is not surprising that 514,000 people are now on waiting lists for consultant outpatient appointments and that over 74,000 patients are awaiting surgical appointments.

“The Government position is illogical as ending the discrimination would be cost effective, resulting in significant health service benefits and cost reductions when considered fully. It would reduce health service costs through the provision of earlier patient care, better patient outcomes, reductions in outsourcing costs and shorter waiting lists. It would also reduce agency Consultant costs which are up to three times the salary being paid to permanent new entrant Consultants.”

He said: “Over the past three years 2015 to 2017 the health service has failed to fill up to one third of the consultant posts advertised by the Public Appointments Service. During those three years, over one third of the posts advertised received between zero or one application and over half received between zero to two applications. The failure to fill a third of the advertised consultant posts is having an adverse impact on practically all medical and surgical specialties and most hospitals throughout the country.”

‘’The Association’s recent survey of New Entrant Hospital Consultants confirms that they are personally aware of colleagues working abroad who will not return to work in the Irish Public Health system as a direct result of the lower salary terms.  In addition, over 70% of the new entrant consultants have confirmed that they will seriously consider resigning from their public hospital posts unless the discriminatory salary terms are corrected.”

Dr O’Hanlon said the country has already lost a large percentage of the highly trained specialists who qualified in the past decade. If the Government does not end the discrimination we will have lost, in another decade, most of a generation of the specialists that the country absolutely needs. He said that such a development, if permitted through inaction, will fatally undermine the quality of medical and surgical care available to the public into the future.

The IHCA President concluded that “the current two tier pay system for consultants must be ended and pay parity restored to ensure that our hospital and mental health services can provide the type of care that patients need and deserve.’’

ENDS

For further information contact:

James Dunny, FleishmanHillard 086 388 3903