HSE ‘holding up plans for school of medicine’

THE Health Service Executive (HSE) has been accused of holding up the tendering process for the proposed graduate entry school of medicine which the Government plans to open next September.

It is intended that up to 250 places in medical faculties will be open to applicants who already hold third-level degrees and will not have to reach the points criteria required at present to get into medicine.

All the existing medical faculties have stated they want to participate in the new graduate entry programme.

And the University of Limerick which does not have a faculty of medicine also prepared an extensive programme when the tendering process commenced.

The Departments of Health and Education have asked the HSE to co-ordinate the tendering process.

Professor Paul Finucane who is the driving force behind the UL bid to get into medicine said yesterday they have been frustrated at the HSE’s delay in getting the tender process underway.

Prof Finucane said: “Last February we were told that the tendering process should get underway immediately. The HSE have said it will happen very soon, but they seem to have put it on the long finger. In the meantime we just have to sit on our hands and wait. We have had no communication from the HSE about the delay.”

Due to the number of new medical students being accepted under the new system of entry it is expected that the graduate entry programme will be awarded to a number of colleges.

The Medical Council will talk with UL next month on its proposed programme.

The Government has said it intends to have graduate entry medical places available in September 2007.

Prof Finucane said if UL is approved they will build a state of the art medical school at UL.

It is intended that over the next five years that graduate entry medical students will grow to 40% (250 students) of the total number attending medical schools.

The Government has embarked on the graduate entry strategy due to the drop out rate of newly qualified doctors.