Almost 350 hospital consultant posts vacant nationwide, new figures show

Almost 350 hospital consultant posts are vacant throughout the country, new figures show.

The HSE figures in today's Irish Times show that there are now more than 1 in 10 hospital consultant vacancies across the Health Service.

Cork University Hospital, which has 130 consultants, has 33 vacant positions, the figures reveal.

The Dublin-Midlands Hospital Group, which includes St James' and Tallaght hospitals has 43 vacancies, with the same number of posts unfilled at the Ireland East Hospital Group which incorporates the Mater and St Vincent's in the capital.

In the Galway University Hospitals, 18 consultant posts are vacant while there are 67 total vacancies in the South-South West group, including 33 at Cork University Hospital.

The figures were released following a parliamentary question from Sinn Fein's health spokesperson Louise O'Reilly and were gathered through a new database system that matched consultants to particular posts in hospitals.

In response, the HSE says the new database was only recently put in place and warned that there "may be variances or gaps in the data" as the process was not complete.

Digital Desk