“What we found most disturbing is that at a time when it was under financial pressure, the HSE had failed to put procedures in place so as to collect the income it was due,” Fianna Fáil TD John McGuinness said.…
Novus Medica
Medical news service from Penhire
Blog Archives
Consultant writes about junior doctor hours
(Comment on Irish Times website >) I’m a hospital consultant. As a junior doctor I did a one in three on call rota for 6 months. So every third weekend I would arrive at the hospital on friday at 9am…
Consultant pay cap of €150,000 would save €52m a year
CAPPING hospital consultants’ salaries at €150,000 a year would save the Exchequer €51.7m, new figures reveal. The estimate, provided in a parliamentary reply by HSE national director Liam Woods, comes in the wake of recent criticism of the scale of…
St James’s closes public beds in consultant deal
St James’s Hospital in Dublin confirmed it had to convert four public beds to private beds in order to provide more accommodation for people with health insurance who are under the care of a consultant. The change became necessary after…
Consultants on €100,000 will not face salary hit
CONSULTANTS earning salaries of more than €100,000 will not face pay cuts in the new Croke Park deal because it would “destroy” the public health service. Public Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin ruled out the move as he discussed his plans to get an extra…
Consultants vote in favour of new working practices
Consultant members of the Irish Medical Organisation have voted in favour of new proposals for work practice arrangements that emerged from talks at the Labour Relations Commission in September. (Times) >
Minister rejects ‘consultant bashing’
Minister for Health Dr James Reilly has said he looks forward to all hospital consultants embracing changes agreed at the Labour Relations Commission (LRC). He said many consultants were doing excellent work, although many felt there had been too much…
Reilly warns consultants over rulings
HEALTH Minister James Reilly has repeated his warning that hospital consultants who fail to comply with binding Labour Court recommendations face “serious consequences”. (Independent) >
Medical academics top list of colleges’ big earners
ACADEMIC medical consultants dominate the list of the highest paid staff in Irish universities. There are 98 senior academics on salaries of €200,000 or more, 89 of whom also work in hospitals as medical consultants. Academic medical consultants have a…
Hospitals free to alter consultant practices
The Health Service Executive has said hospitals can introduce new work practices for hospital consultants from today if they are considered necessary. Separately, a Labour Court recommendation on other issues involving consultants – rest days and payments to psychiatrists for…
Over half hospital consultants back work practice proposals
THE IRISH Hospital Consultants’ Association (IHCA) has said 57 per cent of its members in a survey have backed proposals for work practice changes that emerged from talks at the Labour Relations Commission in September. (Times) >
Consultant numbers could be held at 2,500
THE DEPARTMENT of Health has suggested that now might be the time to “take stock” of the number of hospital consultants working in the public health system, given the growth in numbers in recent years. It said that decisions regarding…
Letter to Times re valuing the work of consultants
[Letter to Times >] Sir, – Prof Tim Lynch seems to be utilising the “because we’re worth it” argument in defence of the salaries of Irish consultants (Opinion Analysis, October 25th). What I don’t understand is how the British NHS…
How ‘consultant’ became a dirty word
Once, consultants such as Maurice Neligan and Risteard Mulcahy were feted throughout society, respected for their views and honoured for their work. Now, the ordinary person on the street would be hard pressed to name a single well-known consultant. Michael…
HSE repeats pay cuts warning to consultants
Barry O’Brien, HSE director of human resources, made the claim as he entered yesterday’s Labour Court meeting between the group and leading doctors’ representatives. Meanwhile, Irish Medical Organisation director of industrial relations Steve Tweed said doctors represented by his union…
Changes demanded of consultants make no sense
In my hospital, the absentee rate for medics is 0.4 per cent compared to up to 5 per cent in general in the health service; in other words doctors go to work day and night and at weekends, even when…
Warning of cancelled surgery
[From the Irish Independent >] SURGICAL operations, clinics and ward rounds will have to be cancelled during the week if hospital specialists are forced to work weekend rosters, according to a leading consultant. Sean Tierney, a vascular surgeon in Tallaght Hospital,…
Consultants refuse to attend hearing
The IHCA contended it did not need to attend the Labour Court as the issues under discussion were not covered by the Croke Park deal. “The Croke Park agreement in the health sector is very specific. It has laid out…
Obs & gynae registrars’ letter on doctors’ deal
Dr FERGUS McCARTHY, Dr RUAIDHRI McVEY, Dr DEIRDRE HAYES-RYAN, Dr JENNIFER HOGAN, Dr JULIA UNTERSCHEIDER, Dr NAOMI BURKE, Dr RIZMEE SHIREEN, Dr CLARE O’LOUGHLIN, Dr MINNA GEISLER, Dr AOIFE MURRAY, Dr NOIRIN RUSSELL, Dr AENNE HELPS, Dr JENNIFER DONNELLY, Dr…
Brendan Cassidy on doctors’ deal and patient care
(Letter to the Irish Times >) Sir, – The new consultant pay rates announced by Minister for Health James Reilly throw up some interesting comparisons. A new Type A contract holder will now start on €116,207. This is then reduced…
Consultants pose challenge to Croke Park agreement
THE DECISION of the Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) not to attend a scheduled Labour Court hearing tomorrow on reforms proposed by management poses a challenge not only to the Government but also to the Croke Park agreement. The Labour…
500 HSE consultants raking in more than €200,000 a year
UP TO 500 hospital consultants are getting salaries of more than €200,000 a year from the Health Service Executive (HSE). The salaries, which do not include the sums that consultants can earn from private work, are often boosted by additional payments…
No Labour Court date, says IMO
THE IRISH Medical Organisation (IMO) has said it has received no invitation to attend the Labour Court in relation to planned work practice reforms for hospital consultants. (Times) >
Taxpayers fund €525K consultants golden deal
HOSPITAL consultants have been receiving retirement lump sums of more than €400,000 plus annual pensions of up to €125,000 a year, it is revealed today. The lucrative pensions and golden handshakes are disclosed as senior doctors continue to resist changes…
Agreement on consultant work reforms collapses
THE DEAL between the Government and hospital consultants on work practice reforms, brokered at the Labour Relations Commission last month, has effectively collapsed. HSE’s director of human resources, Barry O’Brien, said last night that management had not been able to…
Consultants warn Reilly over children’s hospital site
Dr Reilly said at the weekend he would bring the long-awaited decision on the hospital to the Taoiseach and Tánaiste in the next 10 days and a Cabinet decision was likely to follow shortly after. However, consultants working in Dublin’s…
Consultant work reforms due in place by November
However, the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) and the Irish Hospital Consultants’ Association are still consulting members and ballots have yet to get under way on the proposals. Neither organisation has so far come out publicly to back the proposals brokered…
Surgeon a ‘scapegoat’ for bad facilities
A CONSULTANT surgeon whose 39-year-old patient died after three operations for appendicitis was being made “a scapegoat” because of lack of facilities at a Co Clare hospital, an expert witness for the doctor told a Medical Council fitness-to-practise inquiry yesterday.…
“Consultants’ pay:health service = Anglo Irish Bank:banking system”
Last year, an OECD report said consultant pay in Ireland was by far the highest of the 20 countries surveyed. This was based on 2008 data, and salaries have been cut since, but it’s no secret that this report is…
Consultants share €386m fees from health insurers
MORE than 1,800 consultants shared €386m in fees for treating privately insured hospital patients in the year to the end of June, new figures reveal. It averages out at more than €214,000 per consultant. It is the first time all…
