The Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) has initiated legal action against a British medical insurance organisation on behalf of a consultant obstetrician after the insurer declined to contribute to the cost of damages in a forthcoming legal case.
According to the IHCA, the consultant obstetrician has agreed to be the test case in legal action which, it said, is an attempt to break the deadlock in an ongoing dispute with the Medical Defence Union (MDU) and the Department of Health on the issue of responsibility for historical liabilities.
In a circular to members, the IHCA said that because the Department had contributed to the delay in solving the problem of enterprise liability, "it was resolved that action should also be taken against the Department to convey our dissatisfaction with the breach of the common contract and the perilous financial situation in which a significant number of consultants are in".
As a result, on February 6th consultants will consider withdrawing co-operation from the National Treatment Purchase Fund.
Last February, the Government unilaterally introduced a State-run system of insurance - enterprise liability - but did not clarify who would be responsible for past liabilities for obstetric cases. This has been the subject of drawn-out discussions between the Department and the MDU. To date, at least 16 hospital consultants in the Republic, mostly obstetricians, have been refused assistance by the MDU despite having paid subscriptions over a number of years.
The test case involves a consultant obstetrician who has been sued by the North Western Health Board (NWHB) for part of a €4.45 million award made against the health board last February. Although the High Court made the award entirely against the NWHB in a cerebral palsy case and the MDU defended the doctor during this process, the medical insurer has now said that any further assistance in the case will be limited to the consultant's legal costs.
It is understood that after proceedings were taken against the NWHB, its solicitors sought indemnity from the MDU on the consultant's behalf. The MDU subsequently told the NWHB that it was not prepared to offer an indemnity as it appeared that there was no basis for liability on the consultant's part.
The IHCA secretary general, Mr Finbarr Fitzpatrick, said: "Both the Department of Health and the MDU have betrayed consultants this year. It is a plague on both their houses and that is why we are taking action against both."