HSE paid €1m compensation to hospital doctors working illegal long hours

Dr Rachel McNamara: Patients can face exhausted doctors working 72-hour shifts. Picture: Stephen Collins/Collins

HSE hospitals have paid more than €1m in compensation to doctors illegally working long hours without rest days — with further payments expected instead of hiring more staff.

A tense Oireachtas health committee heard the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) tell TDs and senators the recruitment freeze was leading to burnout and emigration rates as high as 80% in one year’s cohort of interns.