Consultants will fight any bid to change contracts

HOSPITAL consultants warned yesterday they will oppose any move to exclude them from private practice in public hospitals.

The Brennan Commission which investigated financial management in the health service has recommended all new and replacement hospital consultants must work exclusively for public patients.

Professor Niamh Brennan who chaired the Commission, said she was shocked to learn that controls on consultants' contracts are so weak that they can earn €152,000 a year for treating public patients and then delegate some of these duties to junior doctors. When they add on their work with private patients, they can earn up to €280,000 a year.

"The consultants pocket the money while junior doctors can earn a lot on overtime doing their work it is not the most efficient way for taxpayers money to be spent.

"I don't think it is fair that public patients do not receive care from consultants when we the Irish taxpayer pay them to treat these patients," Prof Brennan told RTÉ.

But Irish Hospital Consultants Association general secretary Finbarr Fitzpatrick said it will oppose any move to force their members to work exclusively for public patients. "It is a change in the terms of consultants' contract and we will oppose it in negotiations," Mr Fitzpatrick said.

The issue will not be finally decided until the Hanly report on medical manpower is published in two weeks time.

Health Minister Mícheál Martin will not make a final decision on consultants' contracts until he gets this report. But yesterday Mr Martin did not rule out forcing all new and replacement consultants to work exclusively with public patients.

"The primacy of the public patient must be maintained and we need to give them access to the best medical care," Mr Martin said.

Meanwhile, the country's largest union has backed the call for all new and replacement hospital consultants to only treat public patients.

SIPTU national industrial secretary, Matt Merrigan said that if the Government does not bite the bullet on this they should not expect other health workers to support the new reform programme.