‘Health risk’ over strike by doctors

SERVICES to monitor infectious diseases will be severely disrupted from today with the start of an all-out strike by the country’s 270 public health doctors.

Health officials have warned of a potential health risk because of the serious curtailment to services provided by public health doctors at health boards and the National Disease Surveillance Centre.

The striking doctors, who are members of the Irish Medical Organisation, are taking industrial action over what they claim is the failure of the Health Service Employers Agency to implement promises made in 1994 to improve basic pay and conditions.

They are also angered at delays to carry out reviews of pay levels for work at unsocial hours and weekends and the withholding of additional payments.

Doctors have already foregone 6 million in wages for such work in recent years, according to the IMO.

Among the services provide by public health doctors is the monitoring of infectious diseases by the National Disease Surveillance Centre, which is involved in assessing the risk of the potentially fatal SARS virus.

It also provides frontline services in reaction to any outbreak of an infectious disease, including salmonella, meningitis and the winter vomiting bug.

In addition, public health doctors are responsible for implementing immunisation programmes like MMR as well as screening certain risk groups for diseases like TB, hepatitis B and HIV.

The depth of the current impasse between the two sides was reflected in comments this weekend in which the HSEA accused doctors of acting irresponsibly.

HSEA head of industrial relations Brendan Mulligan said the approach taken by the IMO over the past few weeks represented “an all-time low in industrial relations in this country”.

He sharply criticised the organisation over its refusal to meet HSEA representatives in a bid to resolve the dispute.

The HSEA claims the doctors’ demands represents a 30% wage increase separate from any pay awards due under benchmarking.

The HSEA said it was also very unhappy about the level of emergency coverage being offered by the striking doctors.

However, IMO spokesperson Fintan Hourihan said that doctors would continue to provide emergency cover by staffing three hotlines for the duration of the strike.

“Doctors are very angry that they feel they have been left with no option but to take to take all-out industrial action after several weeks of work-to-rule,” said Mr Hourihan.

He also rejected claims the IMO was unwilling to hold talks with the HSEA.

Labour party health spokesperson Liz McManus last night called on the Health Minister Micheál Martin to bring both sides together in order to ensure the provision of essential medical services.