More than 1,000 hospital consultants sign up for new public-only contract

The number of hospital consultants who have signed up to the new public-only contract has passed the 1,000 mark.

As a result, more than one in every four consultants in the health service are now on the new contract, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has said.

Since it was made available earlier this year, 241 new entrant consultants have joined the health service on the contract, while 815 consultants have availed of significantly improved remuneration by switching from their previous contracts. Hundreds more applications are being processed by the Health Service Executive (HSE).

The new contract was given a hostile reception by doctors’ unions, with Irish Medical Organisation members voting against it.

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Welcoming the fact that 1,056 consultants have signed the contract in just over six months, Mr Donnelly described it as a “landmark” in delivering universal healthcare.

“This new contract is facilitating a transition away from the provision of private care in public hospitals and ensuring that state resources are provided in accordance with patient need rather than a patient’s ability to pay,” he said.

The contract compared “very favourably” with other health services around the world and was clearly proving attractive to potential candidates, he said.

Under the contract, consultants can be asked to work 8am to 10pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 6pm Saturday as part of their core 37-hour week. Any private work they do has to take place outside their rostered hours, away from the public facility.

“A key objective of the public-only Sláintecare consultant contract is to extend the hours that consultants, who are senior clinical decision-makers, are on duty across the health services,” Mr Donnelly noted.

Basic pay under the contract ranges from €217,325 to €261,051 on a six-point scale, with additional pay for on-call duties and overtime and supports for medical education training and research.

There are 3,929 consultants working in the public health service, of which 3,487 are in permanent posts. This compares to 2,592 permanently-filled posts in 2019, a 35 per cent increase.

“It is a very significant development to have over a quarter of all consultants in the HSE now on the new contract, and this has happened over a short period of time,” according to HSE chief executive Bernard Gloster.

“It is an important step towards enabling us to introduce reforms to our health system which will allow for enhanced care and greater out-of-hours and weekend presence of consultants in our hospitals, thus enhancing patient flow. This contract is helping us to operate in a highly competitive international employment market, enticing new entrants into the HSE.”