Ahern pledges patients to be covered in compo claim dispute

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern has promised to take whatever steps are necessary to ensure patients are fully covered for past compensation claims.

The British-based Medical Defence Union has pulled cover from up to 11 obstetricians involved in past malpractice claims, saying it was the responsibility of the State to indemnify them.

The MDU wants the Irish taxpayer to foot the bill for as yet unreported historic obstetric malpractice claims.

Talks between the Department of Health and the British firm are continuing in a bid to settle the long-running dispute.

Communications between both sides were reopened following efforts by the department to get negotiations back on track again earlier this month.

Writing in the latest issue of the Irish Medical Times, Mr Ahern acknowledged the effect of the dispute. He insisted, however, that the Government was strongly committed to ensuring that the interests of Irish patients were “fully protected”.

Mr Ahern wrote: “We will take whatever steps are necessary to achieve this objective.”

The Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) welcomed Mr Ahern’s commitment. IHCA assistant secretary general, Donal Duffy, said Mr Ahern’s promise was “very helpful”.

The IHCA has warned it may re-activate industrial action and will consider its position at its annual conference in Kilkenny on Saturday, October 9.

Mr Ahern also wrote that he wanted “personal and collective accountability” from consultants and “24/7” availability to patients to be enshrined in a new common contract.

But Mr Duffy said the IHCA wanted to see the Government’s dispute with the MDU resolved first.

“When it is resolved, we will be more than happy to discuss consultants’ contracts with the Department of Health and the Health Service Executive Agency,” he said.

Mr Duffy also said that consultants already took personal and collective responsibility and were available to see patients on a 24/7 basis.

But Mr Ahern pointed out that a new contract would also demand changes in working time and more effective and efficient work practices. He promised more consultants if changes were agreed.

“This includes the provision of 24/7 health services to patients, delivered by consultants themselves and requires the doubling in the number of consultants,” he wrote.

Mr Ahern also outlined the Government’s spending record on health and commitment to reform plans.

He said the Government was committed to “exploring fully” the scope for the private sector to provide some of the additional capacity in the acute hospital sector.