Haddington road to frame hospital consultant deal

Any hospital consultants taking up a post under the new proposed new higher pay scales will have to sign up to the Haddington Road agreement, the Department of Health has said.

The department also maintained thatthe Irish Hospital Consultants Assocaition (IHCA), which is the only public service union or representative body which is not a party to the accord, will not be allowed to block the new deal on pay and career structures for senior doctors which emerged from talks between the Government and the Irish Medical Organisation earlier this week.

As the IHCA had not signed up to the Haddington Road agreement, it was not permitted to take part in this processs.

The IHCA yesterday (FRI) said that consultants could not trust the new proposals.

It said that they represented a further breach of a contract signed by the Government with consultants in 2008 but not implemented in full. It also called on the Government to reverse in full a 30 per cent pay reduction for consultants recruited after October 2012.

Underthe new proposals pay for consultants working exclusively in the public hospital system would increase from an existing scale of €116,000–€121,000 to between €127,000 and €175,000 over time.

However, the proposals would allow new consultants with experience to be appointed at an entry level of up to €155,000

The Irish Medical Organisation will next week consider next week the revised pay and career proposals drawn up on Thursday by the Labour Relations Commission to deal with concerns over the new new system of incremental credit for doctors.

The sticking point for the IMO was that, under the original proposals, it was offered only consultations on how new consultants would be assessed for incremental credit, which would allow them to be appointed further along the pay scale up to a maxmimum salary of €155,000.

The new LRC proposals suggests that a committee be established to meet on a quarterly basis “tasked with setting a framework for the application of incremental credit which takes account of relevant and appropriate service”.

This committee would be chaired by former president of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland Eilis McGovernand would also include two representatives of the Irish Medical Organisation along with management nominees.

IHCA president Dr Gerard Crotty said: " The lack of clarity and the proposal to pay increments over a 12 year period give rise to a serious concern that the proposals are designed to potentially penalise consultants for highlighting patient safety issues and deficiencies in frontline resources. The perceived agenda, to use the new proposals to gag consultants, is worryingly similar to the terms proposed for general practice.

“ Consultants can’t trust the proposals as they represent yet another breach of the 2008 consultant contract, which was negotiated in good faith. What is now required is that the State honours the existing consultant contract and reverses in full the damaging 30 per cent cut in consultant salaries.”

The Department of Health said it remained open to the IHCA to sign up to the Haddington Road deal so that its members were covered by its protections and benefits. “The Department and the HSE are happy to engage with the IHCA, and the Minister met them only a few weeks ago, but there is no question of them being allowed to stall or veto an agreement made with the IMO or any other union or staff association. Any Consultant taking up a post under the new scales will in doing so be assenting to the terms of the Haddington Road Agreement.”

It said the IHCA’s comments in relation to incremental pay scales providing some mechanism for gagging consultants had no basis.