IMO consultants break ranks to pursue strike

More than 600 hospital consultants are reportedly planning to press ahead with strike action from next month despite their colleagues’ decision to defer the planned action.

Reports this morning said consultants from the Irish Medical Organisation were planning to go ahead with a withdrawal from non-emergency duties from March 14 due to a long-running dispute over insurance cover.

On Saturday, the Irish Hospital Consultants Association, which represents the majority of hospital doctors, decided to defer the action after receiving an assurance from the Government that no consultant would be left without cover.

However, the IMO, after receiving legal advice, decided that the assurance did not go far enough to alleviate its concerns.

The row centres on the Government’s decision to introduce a new state insurance scheme to replace that previously operated by the British Medical Defence Union.

The MDU has since withdrawn cover from 30 Irish consultants facing negligence claims relating to the time when the British firm was the insurance provider.