Consultants accept ‘relatively attractive’ contract

AS THE Irish Hospital Consultants Association voted to accept the terms of their working contract with the Department of Health, their president has described the deal as “relatively attractive”.

Up to 80% of those who voted chose to accept the contract — which comes after four years of stop-start negotiations with health service employers.

IHCA president, David O’Keefe said that the contract should not disadvantage junior doctors who are about to become hospital consultants.

“Where we ended up is a very different place to where we started from. We want to reach a contract where the contracts available to our newer colleagues is acceptable to us. I believe a significant number of the existing consultants will take the new contract,” he said.

“It is relatively attractive and should not disadvantage the new consultants and should also be capable of attracting back those working abroad. Those who were close to the negotiations will know that we went as far as we could under the current political climate. There is a new pragmatism. The country is not as wealthy as it thought it was”.

Health Minister Mary Harney said the contract will mean patients should be “seen faster by a senior doctor, admitted faster and discharged faster”.

The IHCA National Council will consider the outcome of the ballot at its monthly meeting today.

Under the deal, consultants will work a 37-hour week in the public system including weekends. Up to now, they were contracted to work 33 in the public sector. This deal also places increased limits on their private work and grants a top basic salary of €240,000 per year.

Existing consultants will not be obliged to take up the contract but it will apply to all new appointees after June.

The smaller hospital consultant union, the Irish Medical Organisation, which has about 800 members, will release the results of their ballot on June 4.

The Health Service Executive welcomed the IHCA’s acceptance of the deal with chief executive, Professor Brendan Drumm describing the contract as “an important catalyst for modernising our public health service”.

“The main beneficiaries will be patients who use public health services. I also believe it is a positive platform from which consultants can become more actively involved in leading and influencing the direction of public health services,” he said.