One junior doctor in the HSE last year received more than €150,000 in overtime payments.

THE HSE wants to recruit more junior doctors from abroad than the number of posts it needs to fill as part of plans to cut spiralling costs for existing staff.

JUNIOR doctors are seeking an overall pay increase of 20%, claiming their earnings will drop by up to one-third when European Union legislation banning their long working hours is fully introduced and their traditional overtime earnings cut.

UP to 17% of tasks carried out by junior doctors involve “finding stuff and paperwork” and 15% are either non-medical or could be done by a less-skilled hospital worker, a survey has found.

PREGNANT obstetrics trainees are working straight 12-hour shifts into the final weeks of their pregnancy while advising their patients to stay home and rest.

CLAIMS by medical students that hospital consultants failed to show for 30% of their teaching sessions last year are to be investigated by an Oireachtas committee.

The College of Anaesthetists supports the phased implementation of the European working time directive (EWTD) when the infrastructure is in place to ensure this will not impact adversely on patient care, on the quality of training and on the quality of life of our trainees.

NEUROSURGEONS have warned the Government to prepare to send patients with head injuries overseas for treatment, claiming the service faces collapse because of new work schedules.

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern’s claim that difficulties in cutting junior hospital doctors’ working hours are being experienced “all over Europe” has been dismissed by an EU employment expert.

A FURIOUS row has broken out between the Government and critics of its plans to centralise acute hospital care with both sides accusing the other of lying.

PATIENTS will suffer and waiting lists will increase once junior doctors’ working hours are reduced, a leading surgeon has warned.

HEALTH employers face hefty fines if they fail to scale back junior doctors’ working hours in compliance with the European Working Time Directive (EWTD).