Consultant contract talks continue despite IMO walkout

A SECOND round of renewed efforts between medics and health bosses to reach an agreement on new consultants’ contracts was under way last night.

Early yesterday morning, a 16-hour session ended without agreement with the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) delegation walking out, claiming little progress had been made.

Yesterday, the larger Irish Hospital Consultants’ Association (IHCA), re-entered negotiations with HSE chief executive Prof Brendan Drumm warning that the talks were the final chance to reach an agreement.

The IMO will ballot its 850 members on the final proposals received on the first day of talks from the health service employers in relation to the contract.

The union will be recommending to its consultant committee that the employers’ proposals, in their entirety, be balloted by the membership.

“We received clarification on the final position of the employers on a number of outstanding issues following which we now believe the process has reached its conclusion,” said Dr Sean Tierney, chairman of the IMO consultant committee.

“We have one of the lowest levels of consultant staffing in our health service and, in planning for change, it is imperative that an acceptable agreement is reached on a new contract for consultants,” added Mr Fintan Hourihan, IMO director of industrial relations.

Going into the talks, the IHCA said doctors were concerned about proposals on extended working hours, opposed 24/7 availability, and had issues on discipline and the role of the HSE in controlling consultant appointments. The issue of pay was expected to be debated when negotiations resumed at midday yesterday.

In a statement following its walkout, the IMO said it had made considerable concessions, including introducing a new public-only salaried contract, increasing the basic working hours from 33 to 37 hours per week, and extending the working day to between 8am and 8pm from Monday to Friday.

Dr Tierney said: “We have also committed to exploring further changes in working hours arrangements on the basis of patient need and the availability of sufficient staffing and resources.

“We have sought to ensure that patients can be confident that clinical decisions are independent of management pressures. Crucially, we believe that internationally recognised quality standards must govern the appointment of consultants in future, which we believe would be paramount to patient care and safety.

“However, the employers have refused to sign up to such standards.”

Management has offered salaries of up to €235,000 for consultants and the HSE also insisted doctors could be in line to almost double their wages through lucrative private work.