Kerry-based consultant to be elected IHCA president

A KERRY-BASED female obstetrician and gynaecologist, Dr Mary McCaffrey, is expected to be elected president of the Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) at a national council meeting today.

Dr McCaffrey, a former Cork Lady Mayoress, is based at Kerry General Hospital and can expect a challenging year, with the need to draw up a new consultants’ contract at the top of the agenda.

The Department of Health has described the need for a ‘public-only’ contract as vital to health reform and modernising Irish hospitals. The negotiations, which began at the end of last year, were resurrected weeks ago but are already log-jammed due to ongoing communications problems between the Department of Health, the Health Service Executive (HSE) and the consultants.