Introduction

President's Welcome

The Irish Hospital Consultants Association was founded with the twin aims of advocating for quality care for our patients and providing representation for Consultants. 

This year has certainly been another extremely busy and important one for the Association and its members. On a personal level, I now have the great honour and privilege of taking over the Presidency of the Association, at such a transformative time for Irish healthcare. 

We must acknowledge the progress made in recent years bringing additional hospital capacity on stream, increasing Consultant staffing and providing extra funding for Health and yet we know that a lot more needs to be done.  We need to take into account the legacy of historic underinvestment which presents a series of ongoing challenges to deliver the necessary level of care to patients and productivity within the system. 

These historic deficits, and their stark consequences, can be witnessed every day within our health service. We should therefore not be surprised to see certain hospitals struggling to cope with severe overcrowding when we know that previous pledges to deliver additional hospital beds never materialised. For example, the broken promises to the Mid-West, made in 2008 before the reconfiguration of services and the closure of Emergency Departments at Ennis, Nenagh and St John's hospitals, have to be made good. We have seen the start of this process from Minister Donnelly and yet it remains a case of a lot done, a lot to do.

It is not however solely the bed capacity deficits that are causing the crisis in the Mid-West, as the region also suffers from having the lowest number of Consultants on a population basis – almost one-third less than the number of Consultants per 100,000 population in the HSE West and Northwest. 

The IHCA believes the Government must work towards a serious reduction in waiting times for patients, aiming for a six-week maximum wait and we are keen to work together constructively and collaboratively with the leadership we embody, to deliver this for our patients. 

Addressing the very obvious shortages of hospital beds, theatres, diagnostic and other facilities across the country, together with filling the 850 Consultant posts that are vacant or filled on a temporary basis is key, if the Government is to address the core problems facing our public hospitals. This process has begun but due to the historic underfunding and lack of capital investment, there is much yet to do and deliver.

The IHCA continues to advocate for all hospital Consultants in Ireland in a manner which also aims to deliver profound benefits for Irish patients as a whole. We will never apologise for this. But it is time to move beyond tit-for-tat commentary and criticism that too often dominates this space, towards a more collaborative and creative response to health challenges,  in partnership with government, while also supporting the interests of our members and patients. 

A good example of this can be seen in the Association’s constructive engagement with the Department of Health and Oireachtas members during pre-legislative scrutiny over the Mental Health Bill 2024. While there is still work to do on the legislation, we are thankful for the opportunity we had to advocate for legislation that is in the best interests of both patients and the general public.

All of us want to see improvements in Health and each of us have a part to play. There are numerous examples of real progress and the common point in these successes is collaboration and local input. If we can move beyond centralised decision-making and capitalise on local hospital knowledge, mistakes can be avoided, waiting times can come down and patient experiences can improve.

Taking a wider perspective, healthcare is one of the leading sources of carbon emission on earth and every health system in the world must work to reduce emissions without compromising patient care. The Association aims to make the case to Government for sensible reductions in energy consumption and a reduction in single-use items, where clinically appropriate, across the public system. We will not be found wanting when it comes to the future of our planet and believe that doctors can be among the leaders in the response to climate change. 

The Association is actively engaged in addressing these and many other problems with the HSE, employers, clinical indemnifiers, health insurers and a host of other organisations, so that Consultants can provide an effective and efficient service in both the public and private sectors.

Prof Gabrielle Colleran, President