GPs offered over €1,000 a night to cover emergency department gaps

GPs are being offered more than €1,000 a night to cover chronic emergency department staff gaps at one of the country’s leading hospitals.

The €110-per-hour deal was made to “experienced” doctors last week by management at Cork University Hospital.

Correspondence obtained by trade newspaper Irish Medical News shows the hospital made the request for primary care medics to work “one or two, or more” 10pm-8am night shifts to fill the gaps.

The offer relates to unfilled “registrar” positions usually obtained by experienced junior doctors who are on the way to becoming consultants.

Three of the seven roles at the hospital’s emergency department are unfilled, with sources warning that the issue underlines the ongoing junior doctor shortage in the service.

A HSE South spokesperson said the short-term deals are needed to fill staff gaps at a time when patient demand is high. “There are currently three emergency medicine registrar posts unfilled from a complement of seven registrars at CUH.

“The emergency department has experienced an increase of more than 18% in new attendances from 2010 to 2012.

“It is notable that the patients attending are presenting with more complex acute needs. There has also been a 29% increase in patients presenting that are over the age of 70 years old.

“The grade of emergency department registrar is critical and there have been difficulties in recruiting this grade in CUH, other Cork City hospitals, and also at national level. This has resulted in a number of unfilled shift lines.

“In an effort to cover the vacant shift lines, GPs and other senior experienced medical staff have been retained to ensure a consistent safe level of cover and that patient flow and risk would be minimised.

“The situation is monitored on a daily basis by the hospital’s management team.”