Hospital consultants criticise health minister for missing annual conference

The concerns of almost 5,000 hospital doctors were aired at the conference, but neither health minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill nor HSE chief executive Anne O’Connor attended. Picture: PA

The Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) has criticised the health minister for declining to attend its annual conference on Saturday.

The concerns of almost 5,000 hospital doctors were aired at the conference, but neither health minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill nor HSE chief executive Anne O’Connor attended. The IHCA said Ms O’Connor was “forced to cancel at short notice”.

In her opening speech, IHCA president Professor Gabrielle Colleran called for “a collaborative approach” to addressing problems in the health services.

Instead, she said, the doctors’ body had been ignored by the minister since a meeting in early 2025.

“We came away (from that meeting) deeply disappointed that the collaborative approach we offered the minister was not accepted or shared,” she said.

She said that, had the minister attended the conference on Saturday, doctors could have “engaged with her constructively”, as they had done with previous ministers.

Professor Colleran questioned how progress on reforms could be made when the relationship was so fractured. She said: “this is all the more surprising given (the minister’s) sustained focus on consultants’ weekend rostering over the last year and a half.” 

Ms Carroll MacNeill has made a six-day working week in the health services a key part of her reforms to improve patient access, particularly at weekends.

Consultants have accepted this under the public-only contract but have also questioned the lack of supports and other services available at weekends.

However, Professor Colleran said doctors were working “often in circumstances that are far from ideal” and would welcome the opportunity for dialogue.

She also noted that two consultants were taking legal cases relating to contractual issues around working in the new surgical hubs being built around the country.

She said that, while the IHCA was not party to the cases, supporting doctors was part of its role.

“It is certainly not a case in opposition to surgical hubs,” she said at the conference, held at Mount Juliet in Kilkenny.

Minister responds to criticism

In a statement to the media, a spokeswoman for the minister said: “The Minister for Health has regular engagements with the trade union that represents doctors, the Irish Medical Organisation, as well as with all other trade unions representing healthcare workers.

“She engages with consultants on a regular basis at conferences, meetings and when she visits health services around the country”.

She added: “The Minister would be greatly appreciative of any and all support for the provision of public only services in Surgical Hubs.

“The Minister is unable to attend the conference on this occasion owing to existing diary commitments however she is grateful for the invitation and wishes the IHCA every success with the event.” 

The conference will also hear from Cork University Hospital chief executive Jennifer Kearney, as well as consultants Morgan McMonagle and Jean O’Sullivan, who regularly carry out humanitarian work abroad.