14% of hospital consultant positions are vacant

NEARLY one-in-five of the country’s obstetrics/gynaecology posts are unfilled, while across all medical specialities 14% of approved consultant positions are empty.

The failure to fill posts highlights a lack of planning on the behalf of the Health Service Executive (HSE), Fine Gael says.

A total of 2,055 hospital consultant postings have been approved by the HSE and 1,772 have been filled, with 283 — 14% — vacant.

The highest levels of vacancies are in the obstetrics sector but the Irish Hospital Consultants’ Association (IHCA) say the higher figure is linked to an increase in approved consultant posts rather than a lack of interest amongst consultants in working in this potentially lucrative speciality.

The HSE and the IHCA say delays in filling consultant posts can be attributed to the length of time it takes to fill the posts following approval. In a response to a parliamentary question, HSE assistant national director of human resources Martin McDonald said the average time from approval until the individual starts is “about 15 months”.

Latest figures show 17% of obstetrics posts, 16% of pathologist, 15% of psychiatric and 13% of radiologist posts are vacant.

Fine Gael TD Bernard Durkan questioned how the HSE expect to run an efficient hospital service when there is only 85% of necessary staffing in place.

“You just can’t provide the public with the services that you ought to. There is no excuse for this lack of planning as they know years in advance who is due to retire and consultants moving around and out of the country have to give ample notice. If they are trying to save money by not filling the posts quickly, it’s short-term gain at long-term expense.”

IHCA secretary general Finbarr Fitzpatrick said: “The problem is that the minute a new post is approved, another person is added to the supposed consultant establishment list but everyone knows that it will take six-16 months to fill that post.”