Health sector plans face union roadblock
Dr Reilly has proposed the introduction of an associate specialist hospital grade doctor post — effectively a consultant post — to be created to improve staff levels and help retain junior doctors who see no future in Ireland.
He is also seeking to create free GP care throughout the country as a first step towards the introduction of free universal healthcare from 2016.
However, in the first real sign of difficulty, the Irish Medical Organisation — of which Dr Reilly is a former president — has rejected the “foolish” doctor grade plan unless it is confined solely to people already eligible for consultant posts by being on the specialist register.
The union has also said it will not agree to the GP plan unless increased financial resources are made available to clinics treating people on the long-term illness scheme.
Speaking to reporters at the union’s annual general meeting in Killarney, Co Kerry, yesterday, committee chair Mary Gray said the free care move effectively means general practitioners are facing a significantly increased workload in terms of the number of patients they will treat.
While she did not say doctors will be seeking an increase in GMS contract payments, Ms Gray stressed the union would only agree to the policy switch if resources for clinics were increased in line with the additional patients seen.
The conference also roundly rejected the creation of the new hospital doctor grade plan unless it is solely confined to doctors already on the specialist register and available for consultant posts, with Dr Matt Sadlier saying the move cannot be like Britain’s system.
In Britain, junior doctors not on the specialist register can still apply for the positions. However, Dr Sadlier said this cannot take place in Ireland as “a specialist must be a specialist”.
IMO chief executive George McNeice added that despite Dr Reilly seeing the new grade as a “silver bullet” to existing problems, “he has failed to provide any detail on how it would operate and how it will address the pressure points in the system”.
While the new hospital doctor grade stand-off is a more complex issue, the free GP care stance is seen as the first step towards negotiations on the fine detail of the new policy.
Dr Reilly will speak at the final day of the conference this evening, when he is expected to address both issues directly.
