Hospital consultants vote for strike action

Hospital consultants tonight voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action in an escalation of the dispute over medical insurance cover.

About 84% of all ballots handed in to the Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) were in favour of the planned action on March 14.

Around 50,000 patients are expected to be affected if the nationwide dispute goes ahead, with the cancellation of 40,000 weekly outpatient appointments in hospitals, 7,000 day-case procedures and 3,000 elective treatments.

However, IHCA secretary general Finbarr Fitzpatrick said emergency surgery and urgent appointments would not be affected.

He said consultants were determined to win a legal guarantee that they would be not left facing huge legal bills from medical malpractice actions.

“We have been in ongoing contact with the Department of Health but there have been no significant developments,” he said.

Last month, the consultants represented by the Irish Medical Organisation voted by more than eight to one in favour of strike action.

Although all consultants are now insured by the state, the British-based medical indemnity organisation, the Medical Defence Union (MDU), has said it does not have the resources to cover historic claims, even though it accepted subscriptions from the doctors over the years.

The MDU has argued that the State should meet the bill, which could reach €400m, and has refused to provide assistance to 25 consultants.

It cut off all contact with the Government after Minister for Health Mary Harney made critical comments about the company in the Dáil.

The IHCA is to meet the IMO tomorrow to discuss the details of industrial action. It is also due to meet the Health Services Executive to put contingency plans in place in the event of industrial action.

Ms Harney has said that any industrial action by consultants would only lead to suffering for patients.