Up to two consultants a month quit

Hospital consultants are resigning at a rate of one or two per month, mainly in frustration at the two-tier pay system, according to the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO).

Dr Peadar Gilligan, chair of the IMO consultants’ committee, said it was a “nationwide phenomenon that needs to be taken very seriously by the HSE”.

He said it was “almost unheard of when I took up my post, for people to resign from a consultant position”.