Consultants in public hospitals will be expected to be available to work Monday to Saturday, under new contracts approved by Cabinet.
Senior doctors will now be able to earn up to €250,000 a year in public hospitals and do private consultations on the side, under plans before cabinet today.
They’ll be asked to work 37 hours a week and can be rostered from Monday to Saturday.
The Irish Patients Association says while its positive for patients on waiting lists, the contracts could go further.
Consultants will be able to earn money for overtime and can continue to do consultancy work in their own time.
A €20,000 education fund is another attractive aspect of the contracts:
Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly says he hopes this will bring help blend the duel tired health system in many irish hospitals.
The contracts are now being considered by the IMO and the Irish Hospital Consultants Association.
Commenting on the agreement by Government of the proposed new Consultant contract today, the President of the Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA), Professor Rob Landers, said:
“We have communicated our views on Minister Donnelly’s proposal consistently to both the Minister himself and the Secretary General of the Department of Health.
“Currently, over 900,000 people are on a waiting list to see a hospital consultant. Over 900 permanent Consultant posts are unfilled. For a decade, we have been calling on Government to constructively engage so as to address these stark realities.
“Despite progress in discussions over the recent period, the Minister and Government have moved on and ended talks with representative bodies.
“There remain a number of critically important issues that need to be addressed to ensure any proposed contract will reduce patient waiting times and address the Consultant recruitment and retention crisis.
“The Donnelly proposal must stand up against international standards in order to make Ireland’s health service a place that medical and surgical specialist want to work. This is the lens through which our members will evaluate this proposal.
“We will also be looking at this from the perspective of the almost 1 million people currently waiting for essential care across the country, to assess whether the core objective of providing patients with timely essential care can be achieved through this proposed contract.
“We have a detailed consultation process to undertake with our membership now, including those currently working abroad, to determine Consultants’ final view on the Donnelly proposal.”
