More than 10% of consultant roles in HSE remain vacant

AROUND one in every ten consultant jobs in the health service are vacant, worrying figures show.

And of particular concern to health chiefs is the 65 unfilled psychiatrist posts out of 478 around the country – nearly 14% of the total.

Fianna Fáil’s mental health spokesman James Browne said the figures are ‘stark evidence of the strain the health services are under both in terms of recruitment and retention’.

He said: ‘That one in nine positions are vacant can only be having a detrimental impact on the provision of health care. It is crucial that the Government address the matter.’

Figures obtained by Fianna Fáil show 349 of 3,155 approved consultant positions across the State are vacant or ‘unmatched’.

Mr Browne said: ‘Some specialities are worse affected by vacancies than others. However the HSE was unable to provide up-to-date figures for vacancies among other medical staff posts.

‘Of particular concern to me is the number of unfilled psychiatrist posts around the country. Of the 478 approved positions 65 are currently unfilled. These positions are not just vacant in acute hospitals but also in the community.

‘In counties such as Cork and Kerry close to one in five community psychiatric positions are not filled.

‘It’s not surprising then that the hospital groups that suffer the worst overcrowding also record the highest proportion of vacancies.’

He said: ‘This is having an adverse impact of the provision of health services.’

The HSE was asked for comment.