Medic contract talks ruled out

HEALTH Minister Stephen Donnelly and the new HSE CEO have ruled out further talks with consultants after medics voted to reject a new contract.

The new contract began yesterday, with consultants to be rostered on Saturdays for the first time and a potential baseline salary of €300,000.

However, on Monday, the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) revealed its members had rejected the new contract. It said 57% of current contract holders and 64% of future consultants indicated they would not switch to the new deal.

The Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) said its members had also voted to reject the contract, with 73% of survey respondents saying they were not likely to take it up.

HSE chief executive Bernard Gloster said there would be no further consultation, explaining: ‘There comes a point in every negotiation where the negotiation has to stop, and we have to say we can’t get any further.’

Mr Donnelly had earlier told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland that the Government planned to press ahead with the new contract, despite the negative reception from the medical groups.

‘To be clear, we are offering a contract now which is very attractive,’ he said. ‘We’re offering a contract that pays €257,000 for 37 hours’ work.

‘When you add on on-call, many consultants will earn over €300,000, and on top of that we’ll have essentially unlimited private practice of all size.’

He said the contract was ‘really important’ for patients, explaining: ‘We know that we need more senior decision makers on site in hospitals at longer times for patients at the weekends and in the evenings.

‘We’re in the middle of the biggest expansion of the workforce, of hospital beds, of diagnostics in the public health system in decades. This is a really important part of that.’

The minister also confirmed that there would be no new talks.

‘The independent chair concluded after a year-and-a-half of talks that there was no further progress to be made,’ added Mr Donnelly.