Union claims hospitals will close alarmist, says Martin

Evelyn Ring

“We have made it clear to health service managers that existing levels of services are to be maintained and patient safety is not going to be compromised,” the minister insisted yesterday.

Patient care must take precedence over everything else, he insisted.

The minister has also urged the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) to take a constructive approach on Tuesday when eleventh hour talks take place at the Labour Relation Commission to try and reach an agreement.

He confirmed, however, that Ireland would not be compliant with the European Directive stipulating that doctors cannot work more than 58 hours a week for health and safety reasons from Sunday, August 1, next.

Minister Martin stressed, however, that no unilateral action would be taken and every effort would be made to try to resolve the issue through the industrial relation process.

The Health Service Employers Agency (HSEA) want to introduce a 24-hour day, seven-day-a-week rostering system as part of their strategy to implement the directive.

About 60% of the health service specialties would be complying with the directive but the country’s 4,000 junior doctors, who work on average 75 hours a week, are opposed to the HSEA rostering system that will see their pay fall.

HSEA chief executive Gerard Barry said a robust defence would be mounted if there was any attempt to report employers to the Rights Commissioner, who can levy fines and award compensation if the directive is not observed.

It would be a real irony, he said, if the IMO pursued a claim that the doctors were not protected under the directive.

The IMO argues that the rosters are dangerous and unworkable and put the proper and appropriate care of patients at risk.

It also warns they would probably cause the closure of smaller hospitals.