1,200 junior doctors to work without any supervision

SENIOR hospital doctors are to meet with HSE chief executive Prof Brendan Drumm today over concerns that more than a thousand medics will be able to work in the health system from July without having to undergo any vetting checks.

The Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) has claimed that from next month, 1,200 of the existing 4,800 junior doctors currently working in Ireland will no longer be under scrutiny by a more experienced professional as their training places will not be renewed.

Under a HSE plan, these junior doctors will effectively be placed on the Medical Council Register in a category similar to GPs, which means they will be treated as individual businesses.