Crisis warning over reduction of non-consultant doctors

A CRISIS is looming in the Irish health system due to an impending reduction of non-consultant hospital doctors (NCHDs).

The Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) says this summer will see a “new and unnecessary crisis” in hospitals throughout the country.

In anaesthesia and emergency medicine the crisis will be most acutely felt, said IHCA assistant general secretary Donal Duffy. However, all areas of hospital medicine were likely to be affected, he predicted.