In an effort to halt the flow of Irish doctors emigrating to work abroad, the Minister for Health has established a forum on medical manpower. Mr Cowen said there were a number of problems which needed to be addressed to keep these doctors in Irish hospitals.
However, it was revealed yesterday that the Department of Health has apparently abandoned a report, accepted five years ago, which called for healthcare in public hospitals to be provided by fully qualified consultants. The report was drawn up by the then chief medical officer of the Department, Dr Niall Tierney.
In Irish hospitals the bulk of medical care is provided by junior doctors still in training. The report proposed that there should be one junior doctor for every consultant, to enable better training.
According to Department of Health officials yesterday the ratio at present is more than twice that - 1,340 consultants and 2,700 non-consultant hospital doctors - working in the public health service.
Dr James Kiely, chief medical officer, said while the one-to-one ratio was still optimum, in the five years since the Tierney report was published demographics and the economy had changed. It might not be appropriate in all circumstances, he said, particularly given the ageing Irish population.
According to the Department of Health, "the cream of Irish doctors" are leaving the system to work abroad. Mr Cowen's forum on medical manpower is aimed at developing a programme of action for this area.
"New initiatives relating to training, career structure and service delivery are required. I want the forum to consider, particularly, ways to create better careers for young doctors, to reduce the need for so many of our doctors to emigrate after qualification, to improve postgraduate medical training and to effect improvements in the delivery of medical care to patients," said Mr Cowen.
The imbalance between the number of junior doctors and consultants employed in the public health service, according to Mr Cowen, leads to large numbers of doctors emigrating early in their career.
Mr Cowen said there was a lack of formal recognition of time spent in non-consultant posts for formal training purposes. There was a need for revised arrangements for higher and specialist medical training, which could offer greater certainty in career planning.