Consultants may be forced to quit their practices in insurance row

CONSULTANT obstetricians say they will be forced to give up their practice if the row between the State and a British firm over insurance cover continues.

The Medical Defence Union (MDU) has told 11 consultants that they will not be covered for past claims.

Eight are obstetricians and three are surgeons. Two of the obstetricians are retired.

One of the consultants no longer working is Dr Michael Neary, who was struck off the medical register for unnecessarily removing the wombs of 10 patients.

Consultant obstetrician at the Bon Secours Hospital in Cork, Dr David Corr, said he and other colleagues were extremely distressed by the MDU’s decision to pull their cover.

They would be forced to stop practicing unless they could get an assurance from Health Minister, Micheál Martin, that they will be covered for all past liabilities, Dr Corr said.

General manager of the Bons Secours Hospital, Harry Canning, said consultants were now under enormous stress because of uncertainty over the coverage of past liabilities.

And he believed the situation could affect a consultant’s enthusiasm to continue working.

“If you are an obstetrician and you have to take a case against the MDU in the British courts, it will be very hard to concentrate on your practice in Ireland.”

Mr Canning stressed that the problem related to claims made in the 1990s and 1980s and wanted to reassure patients that both the hospital and obstetricians were fully insured.

All of the country’s 95 obstetricians have switched to the Medical Protection Society.

Officials from the Department of Health met MDU representatives in Dublin on Thursday in a bid to get negotiations back on track.

Today, obstetricians who are members of the Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) will meet in Dublin.

IHCA general secretary, Finbarr Fitzpatrick, said the meeting was being held to update consultants on developments.

Mr Fitzpatrick said the IHCA was also anxious to find out if any more obstetricians have been told that they will not be covered by the MDU for past claims

The association had also warned that it may re-activate industrial action and will consider its overall position at its annual conference in Kilkenny on Saturday, October 9 next.

Mr Fitzpatrick said they would be attending a further meeting with the Department of Health on Tuesday, September 28 next. “That will be a crucial meeting because if we go into our conference without a solution our members won’t be prepared to wait any longer,” he warned.