Council in plans to avoid doctor delays

THE Medical Council has drawn up a protocol designed to avoid the kind of administrative mess that has left about 85 junior doctors jobless more than two months after travelling here from India and Pakistan.

As part of the arrangement — on which the HSE is expected to sign off — the council is committed to holding exams to measure the clinical competence of these non-consultant hospital doctors (NCHDs) within five days of receiving all the relevant documentation, according to Colm Burke, Fine Gael’s health spokesperson in the Seanad.

On Tuesday, Mr Burke received a letter from Caroline Spillane, the council’s chief executive, which said about 230 of the 270 doctors who travelled here in response to the HSE’s recruitment process in India and Pakistan are now registered.

Ms Spillane told Mr Burke the council was “in the process of agreeing a formal arrangement with the HSE for the registration of doctors in the supervised division. This agreement also clarifies roles, responsibilities and timelines associated with the staging of the next clinical examinations.”

The supervised division was created through legislation, in response to the shortfall of NCHDs. It allows non-EU doctors to be registered in council-approved posts for a maximum of two years, working under supervision only.

However, to get on the register, doctors must go through a three-pronged process, including submitting evidence of qualifications and sitting a clinical examination.

The HSE must make a declaration to the council for each doctor registered in the supervised division, outlining the nature of the post, the doctor’s duties and the nature of the supervisory arrangements. Delays in submitting paperwork have held up the process and prevented the council setting a date for future examinations. In the meantime, 85 doctors remain in limbo with no income.

Of the doctors who sat exams in August, 236 passed, but some have yet to be registered because of delays in supplying information.

Ms Spillane also indicated that the HSE has not submitted the required paperwork in relation to the 85 doctors still not registered.

However, she said they are working closely with the HSE to address “service gaps” so that posts are not left unfilled when the next NCHD job rotation occurs in January.