THE IRISH Hospital Consultants’ Association (IHCA) has said 57 per cent of its members in a survey have backed proposals for work practice changes that emerged from talks at the Labour Relations Commission in September.
However, the organisation has sought a meeting with senior Health Service Executive management to discuss outstanding concerns.
The IHCA survey was not a ballot of members. The association has consistently argued that it does not engage in collective bargaining and that it is up to each individual consultant to decide for themselves on contractual changes. The association did not disclose how many consultants took part in its survey of members.
In a statement it said members had identified a number of significant concerns to be addressed. These include that Ireland had only about half the number of consultants needed to provide the necessary care for patients.
The IHCA said consultants were also concerned about proposed arrangements for weekend work and compliance generally with the European working time directive.
It said the proposal to roster consultant physicians and surgeons on-call with no conflicting commitments would impact adversely upon patient care and health service delivery. It said inadequate frontline resources, including acute hospital beds, theatre access and other essential facilities would continue to impact adversely and make it more difficult for consultants to treat patients within medically acceptable time frames.
The IHCA also said that the Government’s unilateral plans to cut pay for new consultants by 30 per cent – which fall outside the Labour Relations Commission proposals – would undermine the capacity of the health services to recruit the calibre and number of consultants required.
“Members have highlighted the importance of addressing these concerns in order to protect the quality and effectiveness of health services to the public. On that basis, the IHCA national council is recommending that its members engage in a collaborative approach to improve healthcare services.”
The HSE did not comment last night on the IHCA statement. It has said local management will be free to implement the work practice changes set out in the Labour Relations Commission proposals from next Monday.
Separately the Labour Court over the coming days is expected to issue a binding recommendation under the Croke Park agreement on a number of outstanding issues such as rest days and payments for psychiatrists for second opinions.
The IHCA last week declined to attend a Labour Court hearing on these issues on the grounds that the issues were outside the scope of the agreement.
It remains to be seen whether the IHCA will accept the findings of the Labour Court. The Government has previously indicated that organisations which did not accept binding recommendations from the Labour Court would lose the protections of the Croke Park agreement. This could pave the way for the Government to introduce pay cuts for serving hospital consultants.
