Dispute to go on as consultants reject HSE pay offer

ANY chance of a quick resolution to contract negotiations with hospital consultants were dashed yesterday after their representative associations have rejected the latest pay offer.

The Irish Hospital Consultant Association (IHCA) last night described the draft employment contract, which they received from the Health Service Executive late on Tuesday evening, as being “less attractive” than the document they rejected nearly six months ago. The adoption of a new consultant contract is pivotal to reforming hospital services, according to the Department of Health.

In the statement, IHCA Secretary General Finbarr Fitzpatrick questioned “whether the HSE and the Department of Health and Children actually want to negotiate a new contract now”.