Doctors in strike threat over Martin SARS attack
Speaking at the Irish Medical Organisation’s (IMO) conference in Kerry yesterday, the Minister for Health enraged delegates when he reprimanded senior staff “in positions of leadership and authority as directors of public health or of specialist agencies” for “total abandonment of responsibility”, in dealing with the SARS virus.
The IMO said his remarks were a direct attack on the eight directors of public health and the head of the National Disease Surveillance Centre (NDSC).
“It is completely unprecedented that an invited guest to our conference would target nine of our members.
"There are codes of practice governing intimidation and we have had doctors in touch with us today bringing that to our attention,” said IMO industrial relations chief Fintan Hourihan.
He added public health doctors around the country had been targets of intimidation by management, who were trying to subvert the doctors’ efforts to engage in industrial action.
Mr Hourihan said the minister’s remarks, for which he refused to apologise in a private meeting with the IMO, flew in the face of his department’s offers to help resolve the dispute.
IMO president Dr Joe Barry said colleagues were “shaking in anger” at the accusations in which he said he would bear in mind the directors of public health abdication of responsibility in any future restructuring of the health service.
Delegates immediately moved an emergency motion “deploring the threat made to nine identifiable members of the organisation” and condemning the Department of Health’s inaction in resolving the PHD dispute.
IMO GP committee chairman Dr James O’Reilly, proposer of the motion, said GPs were prepared to row in behind the PHDs in a measured manner, up to all-out strike.
Junior doctors spokesman Dr John McFarlane said they too would meet today to consider full withdrawal of services.
The consultants promised “extreme action”, but strike is ruled out because of a clause in their contracts.
Delegates said they had never before seen the organisation take such a unified stance, reflecting their anger at being blamed for the handling of SARS.
Dr Barry said it was appalling that the minister should point the finger at public health doctors who had come off the picket lines to deal with any emergency cases, be it SARS, meningitis or TB.
Yesterday the minister admitted his department did not know what action the Eastern Regional Health Authority had taken in between a woman being identified as a suspect case on Wednesday, a probable case on Thursday and again a suspect case on Friday.
His chief medical officer, Dr Jim Kiely, said they could not be expected to know the ERHA’s operational details.
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