Letters to the Editor: Consultants’ Hippocratic Oath is only for weekdays

'The claims being touted currently, that consultants are already fully and dutifully engaged in weekend shifts, foster a sense of wonderland reality to the fray.'

The impasse on hospital consultant contracts is the latest in a long line of stand-offs which have never been fully settled or satisfactorily resolved in this crucial zone of healthcare delivery. It is as seasonally dependable as the weather, with a mutually comfortable outcome remaining relentlessly and perennially elusive.

The claims being touted currently, that consultants are already fully and dutifully engaged in weekend shifts, foster a sense of wonderland reality to the fray. Anyone who has serious personal awareness of the prevailing patterns, knows full well that weekend consultant cover is on a sparse rota frequency and predominantly by phone-in advisory to a registrar. If that constitutes appropriate cover, the mind boggles. and we’re in Jabberwocky territory.