Medical Council report confirms worsening consultant recruitment and retention crisis

• Number of doctors who enrolled on the medical register for the first time in 2018 is at a four year low
• 40 more specialists withdrew from the register than enrolled for the first time
• Government’s policy towards new entrant consultants is driving our highly trained doctors and consultants abroad and undermining acute hospital care for patients

IHCA President Dr Donal O’Hanlon said: “The Irish health service is not competitive due to the inequality in pay being imposed on consultants appointed since October 2012.”

The Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) has said that the Medical Workforce Intelligence Report, which was published by the Medical Council today, confirms that the hospital consultant recruitment and retention crisis is worsening, with year-on-year applications to the medical register decreasing, while the number of voluntary withdrawals continues to increase.

The number of doctors enrolled on the register for the first time in 2018 totalled 2,190, which is lower than in the previous three years. The vast majority of these new doctors were registered on the General or Intern Divisions, with just over 10% (223) on the specialist register.

Meanwhile, the number of voluntary withdrawals increased by 38% last year to 1,453. Almost a quarter (24%, 263) of the 1,110 doctors who gave feedback on why they were withdrawing from the register had left the Specialist Division.

Dr Donal O’Hanlon, IHCA President, said: “these figures from the Medical Council show that at least 40 more specialists left the profession or ceased practice in Ireland to work abroad than enrolled on the register for the first time.  This decline, together with the acute hospital services’ continued overreliance on foreign-trained doctors, has rightly been highlighted as a significant concern by the Medical Council.”

Among the reasons cited by doctors for voluntarily withdrawing from the Specialist Division were: workplace understaffing; earning more abroad; limited career progression opportunities in Ireland; a lack of employer support; and family/personal reasons.

According to the IHCA, the Government’s policy towards new entrant consultants is driving our highly trained doctors and consultants abroad and undermining acute hospital care for patients.

This was borne out the Medical Council’s recent ‘Your Training Counts’ survey published in July, which found that almost three quarters of respondents who were considering practising medicine abroad said it was because they felt they can earn more working outside of Ireland. Two thirds of trainee specialists who were considering working abroad said it was because they felt their working hours in Ireland are too long, and over four in five (81%) of respondents were considering practising medicine abroad because they felt their workplace is understaffed.

Dr O’Hanlon said: “it is widely acknowledged that our acute hospital services have too few consultants, with around 500 permanent posts either vacant or filled on a temporary basis. This is resulting in an overstretched work environment and is adversely impacting on the quality and safety of care that doctors and consultants can provide to patients, including our unacceptable record waiting lists.

“Today’s report from the Medical Council confirms the significant challenges we face in recruiting and retaining a sufficient number of highly qualified Irish trained doctors and consultants.

“The Irish health service is not competitive due to the inequality in pay being imposed on consultants appointed since October 2012.”

“The report has also highlighted that these difficulties are being managed through high-cost interventions like the increased use of locum services. This has not only resulted in the spend on agency doctors increasing by €57 million per annum compared to 2012 when Minister Reilly imposed a unilateral salary cut on new consultants, but it is also impacting on the continuity and quality of patient care.

“The Medical Council has stated that a move to more consultant-delivered care must now be put in place. Increasing the number of consultant posts will also mean there will be positions appropriate for trainee doctors to aspire to working in a modern and functioning health service.

“The Government must restore pay parity for consultants appointed since October 2012 in order to end the medical brain drain and ensure that Ireland becomes an attractive place to pursue a medical career and fill all our consultant posts,” said Dr O’Hanlon.

ENDS