Press Statement

Statement from the Irish Hospital Consultants Association

The Irish Hospital Consultants Association, which represents 85% of hospital consultants, commenting on the proposals to address the consultant recruitment crisis, is adamant that the concerns of consultants must be properly addressed through engagement with the Association to restore trust so that our highly trained doctors will want to practise in Ireland as consultants.

Dr Gerard Crotty, IHCA president said: “It is essential that the solution to the recruitment crisis restores parity for newly appointed consultants and addresses the failure by the State to honour existing contracts which has undermined trust and is causing an increasing medical brain drain. The lack of clarity and the proposal to pay increments over a 12 year period give rise to a serious concern that the proposals are designed to potentially penalise consultants for highlighting patient safety issues and deficiencies in frontline resources. The perceived agenda, to use the new proposals to gag consultants, is worryingly similar to the terms proposed for general practice.

“The HSE decision to advertise new consultant positions on an ad hoc contract, while openly ignoring the concerns of the profession and the representative organisations, will further undermine any remaining trust and waste the opportunity to resolve the consultant recruitment and retention crisis. Consultants can’t trust the proposals as they represent yet another breach of the 2008 Consultant Contract, which was negotiated in good faith. What is now required is that the State honours the existing Consultant Contract and reverses in full the damaging 30% cut in consultant salaries,” continued Dr Crotty.

ENDS

For further information contact:

James Dunny, FleishmanHillard – 086 388 3903