Almost 700 junior doctors started work without Garda vetting - review

Fine Gael's spokesperson on health, Cork North Central TD Colm Burke, said there was a growing staffing crisis particularly in smaller hospitals, citing the recent case of Bantry General Hospital, which had to temporarily restrict services due to a shortage of doctors. File picture Dan Linehan

Almost 700 junior doctors were not Garda vetted before they began working in Irish hospitals, an internal HSE audit has found. 

The lack of Garda vetting is just one risk to patients and staff identified by the 2019 audit into recruitment of non-consultant hospital doctors.

Four of the five recommendations made in the report carry a red marking signalling “a significant risk” requiring “immediate attention” including risks for patients.

However hospital managers quoted in the audit say some requirements around international recruitment are “unfeasible” due to the high workload of Irish doctors and language constraints.

The internal control systems, risk management and governance across hiring systems were “unsatisfactory” according to the audit, carried out in 2019.

The audit, released under the Freedom of Information Act, assessed data on how more than 6,000 staff were hired at NCHD (non-consultant hospital doctor) or junior doctor level. It only looked at recruitment for non-training jobs which do not lead to a consultant position.

This showed 690 doctors were not Garda vetted before starting work and there was no evidence that work permits had been obtained for 2,205 international doctors.

It found 2,644 international doctors had failed or did not show acceptable proof of 'mandatory' English-language tests.

CVs not obtained

Altogether the audit notes 3,213 cases where it appeared CVs were not obtained from doctors applying for work.

The audit also found significant delays in getting new doctors certified as healthy and fit for work, noting this carries potential risks for patients.

The audit was carried out at national level with field work in six hospitals including Cork University Hospital and University Hospital Limerick.

These two hospitals were found fully compliant across three of the six control measures, and partially compliant on the remainder.

The auditors said none of the six hospitals asked candidates to bring official identification to interviews, and two used telephone interviews instead of video.

HSE guidelines say any consultant in charge of recruitment must personally telephone one referee from each applicant and obtain an “oral reference” from them.

The audit found no evidence of this being completed for NCHDs recruited internationally, but noted that hospital managers insisted this requirement was impractical.

“Management within the hospitals consistently insisted it was unfeasible due to workload of consultants, time zone differences and language constraints,” the auditors found.

Audit 'concerning'

Fine Gael's spokesperson on health, Cork North Central TD Colm Burke, described the audit as “concerning.” 

He said: “The whole system of recruitment of consultants is out-of-date, we are not doing any forward planning.” 

He expressed concerns about the high number of new staff not appearing to have Garda clearance and suggested a specialist unit for doctors would allow for timely answers. 

Mr Burke said there was a growing staffing crisis particularly in smaller hospitals, citing the recent case of Bantry General Hospital, which had to temporarily restrict services due to a shortage of doctors.

“It’s all feeding into pressure on recruitment,” he said. “There needs to be a lot more forward planning.”