‘Harney hasn’t the faintest idea what she’s talking about’

RETIRED cardiac surgeon Maurice Nelligan insists consultants are not to blame for the unhappy state of Ireland’s health services.

It was simply not true to suggest patients could not be discharged as soon as possible because of the way consultants worked, he said.

He also reacted angrily to claims that consultants only worked five days a week from 9am to 5pm.

“I have more than 30 years’ experience as a consultant and this is simply untrue,” he insisted.

He had worked nights, weekends and bank holidays and there was never difficulty in getting a consultant to see a patient.

He dismissed as “completely untrue” claims that nurses and doctors had turned the situation in casualty units throughout the country into a political tool.

“Anyone who has set foot in any casualty department knows this to be completely untrue,” he said.

Overcrowding in A&E departments was as bad as ever because there were simply not enough beds.

Mr Nelligan was commenting on talks that began yesterday between the State and hospital consultants on a new contract.

Mr Nelligan said consultants were willing to sit down and talk to officials from the department HSE but this was very difficult in the absence of a policy on how health services were to be delivered.

And, he said, it was wrong to suggest that there were no public-only consultants - a feature the Department of Health proposes including in the new contract. Such consultants had already been appointed under the old contract.

Mr Nelligan added that nobody knew the role of the private hospitals to be built alongside public ones. In any case, private hospitals would not be able to sustain casualty units. The bulk of the more difficult problems such as renal failure, heart surgery and lung transplantation would be left to the public system to deal with.

“I have the distinct impression that Mary Harney has not got the faintest idea of what she is talking about,” he said.