Army in need of doctors

THE medical service in the Defence Forces is in a “virtual state of collapse”, the representative body for army officers claimed yesterday.

Officers said there were only 18 doctors in the Defence Forces, far short of the 50 that were needed.

The Representative Association for Commissioned Officers said most doctors being recruited were from abroad, mainly from eastern Europe, and that only one Irish doctor had joined in the last five years.

Speaking at the closing day of their conference in Kilkenny, association general secretary Col Brian O’Keeffe said the system is “in a state of virtual collapse”.

He said: “Radical solutions are needed here. We cannot retain sufficient personnel to fill the current [Medical Corps], therefore we need to change the model of recruitment.”

Col O’Keeffe said the current system of recruiting doctors, mainly from eastern Europe, on short-term contracts was not sustainable as they were leaving after short periods to take up better-paid jobs elsewhere.