Junior doctor shortage will hit smaller hospitals, HSE chief warns

THE head of the Health Service Executive warned that a shortage of junior doctors in small hospitals would have a knock-on effect on services in emergency departments.

There are 158 junior doctor vacancies, which the HSE are trying desperately to fill.

Junior doctors from India and Pakistan are set to fly into Ireland over the coming days and weeks to fill up posts.

HSE chief executive Cathal Magee told the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that “while the full impact of any vacancies will not be known until next week there will be shortages in a number of emergency departments, particularly in smaller hospitals”.

Despite a major overseas recruitment drive, hospital services are now drawing up contingency measures because of the shortage of non-consultant hospital doctors.

There are 4,660 non-consultant hospital doctor posts in the health system.

“Efforts are being made to ensure that the impact on services is minimised and to ensure patient safety is maintained,” said Mr Magee.

HSE officials admitted the shortage of junior doctors had been known about for up to 18 months.

HSE national director of quality and patient safety, Philip Crowley, said a huge number of newly qualified Irish doctors were “voting with their feet” and moving abroad for work. Reasons for this needed to understood, TDs were told.

Meanwhile, figures released to the committee showed a significant rise in the average numbers of patients waiting to be admitted from an emergency department into a hospital.

The figures, from January up until May this year, show over a 40% increase in the numbers waiting for admission compared to last year.

While an average 37 patients waited between 12 and 24 hours to be admitted in an emergency department last year, the average this year has risen to 53.

The HSE, in a presentation to the committee, said it was “unacceptable” that numbers of patients experiencing long waits.

Emergency department attendances were up by an additional 6,866 (up 1.9%) overall, TDs were told.

This could be attributed to an ageing population who appeared at departments with more complex conditions, it was added.

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation said there were 322 people on trolleys in hospitals across the country on Wednesday.