IMO chief warns of need to reassign resources after staff retirements

The HSE's early retirement scheme has resulted in shortfalls in the health service, Irish Medical Organisation leader Dr Paul McKeown warned today.

IMO incoming president Dr McKeown stated that the organisation is investigating the full extent of the impact.

His statement came ahead of the IMO's annual general meeting, which gets underway at Hotel Europe, Killarney, Co Kerry later today.

An estimated 4,000 staff left the health service in the months leading up to the deadline at the end of February.

Dr McKeown said that the IMO needs more information to determine the true situation on the ground.

"We lost a huge amount of nurses and we lost a significant number of administrators as well," he said.

"So what we need to do is to complete the picture to be able to redistribute and redisperse our resources in such a way to ensure that the patients, the most important person in the system, is impacted to the smallest degree, if possible none, by such changes."