The beleagured health service is set to be hit by a further crisis this summer with the fall-out from the reduction in the number of junior hospital doctor positions.
The HSE’s decision to cut these recognised training posts nationally by 900 from July 1 will have “profound” consequences for the health service immediately and in the future, warns the Irish Hospital Consultants Association.
It says patients and their families will see “dramatic reductions” in hospital service. Areas, such as anaesthesia (with knock on consequences for surgery and obstetrics ) and emergency medicine will be worst hit.
“This summer will see a new and unnecessary crisis in the Irish health system as there will be radically fewer non-consultant hospital doctors (NCHDs ) from early July. NCHDs undertake a very considerable load of every hospital’s work,” explains Donal Duffy, the assistant general secretary of the IHCA.
He says the health authority has reduced its designated non-consultant hospital doctor training posts from 4,500 to 3,600 from July 1.
This comes on top of Ireland’s full implementation of the EU Working Time Directive, which restricts the number of hours these doctors may work to 48 per week - it had been about 20 per cent more previously.
“In addition, the visa application and costs for non-EU doctors are more restrictive than in other competing EU countries. Also, the new contract for NCHD’s significantly reduces their earning capacity. Ireland used to be a very attractive location in which doctors could train. This is no longer so.
“Increasingly from this summer, patients and their families will see dramatic reductions in service. The most notable impact will be in anaesthesia (with knock on consequences for surgery and obstetrics ) and emergency medicine, disciplines in which it has already been very difficult to recruit.”
The HSE has not indicated how much money will be saved by this “drastic measure” or how funds might be redirected, outlines Mr Duffy.
Noreen Muldoon, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation’s industrial relations officer in the west, says the reduction in junior doctor positions “could not come at a worse time” for the health service.
She says it is already reeling from the Government ban on staff recruitment and budgetary cuts.
“From patients and our point of view this is coming at a very bad time. If you don’t have doctors there is going to be a reduction in services. This is a real concern to us.
“We won’t be able to evaluate how much it will affect hospital services until we know the full extent of these reductions in junior doctor numbers. We did not have a meeting with management yet.”
A spokesperson for the HSE West says patient safety is of paramount concern to the health authority across the hospital system.
“The HSE is fully aware of the staffing situations in hospital emergency departments (EDs ) in some parts of the country. A recruitment drive for a new intake of non consultant hospital doctors (NCHDs ) is under way and a number of other initiatives are being considered to specifically address the situation to ensure that hospital EDs continue to offer a high level of care to all patients.
“The HSE is working closely with individual hospitals to address their needs in this area and is putting in place a number of processes to address the issues presenting on a short, medium and long-term basis.”
The spokesperson says it is too early to say which hospitals and what parts of the country may be affected by the reduction in junior doctor numbers.
“We are aware there is a shortage of NCHDs. The expectation would be, come July 1, we may see a further reduction and obviously there would be consequences of that. Yes, some services may need to be reconfigured, but it is too early to speculate.”
