National taskforce to help improve experience of junior doctors

A national taskforce has been set up to help improve the experience of non-consultant hospital doctors (NCHDs), as well as support their retention in this country. It is expected to put in place sustainable strategies and policies within a year.

It will seek to improve the doctors’ experience and work-life balance through the development and implementation of improved structures and supports in hospitals. It will also aim to further develop and foster a culture of education and training at clinical level, and plan for a reorganisation of the medical workforce in providing healthcare in Ireland.

Announcing the taskforce, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly said “recruitment and retention of healthcare workers, including NCHDs, is a top priority for me and the Government”.

“The intention is that the taskforce will develop a range of policy initiatives to result in improved training, structures and supports for all,” he said.

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The Minister said he had “met and spoken to many NCHDs on my visits to hospitals around the country” where he had “heard first-hand their issues. I am fully committed to addressing these issues and to implementing sustainable workforce planning strategies and policies which promote a culture of education and training at clinical site level”.

“As part of Sláintecare delivery, we need to support and grow a sustainable NCHD workforce,” he said.

His said his department would collaborate with key stakeholders “to successfully support the NCHD workforce and to inform medical workforce planning into the future”.

In an interview on RTÉ’s Radio’s News at One on Thursday Mr Donnelly said he did not blame NCHDs for their recent ballot to strike. “They are deeply frustrated, what they need is solutions, they need solutions now,” he said.

He was determined that “legacy issues will be stopped. Ireland must be one of the most attractive places in the world for doctors to train — on the consultant track, on the GP track and right now it’s not”.

NCHDs had raised with him “issues around working hours, working shifts of 24 hours sometimes 36 hours. They’ve told me that they don’t have adequate facilities in hospitals, sometimes they don’t have access to food on very long shifts, it’s not right. We need to treat our people well and I’m determined that we’re going to do that.”

He had also instructed the HSE to immediately deal with the issue of NCHDs facing emergency tax every time they move hospital, which can be every six months. He wanted action now, in the coming months, not in years. “I’ve instructed the HSE to resolve this issue as a matter of urgency and they’re looking at various ways that can happen,” he said.

Money was already in place to improve facilities in hospitals, he said, “but what we need here is a fundamental and radical change in how we treat our NCHDs and that’s what the taskforce is for.”

Chair of the new taskforce, which will include representation from key stakeholders across the health services, will be Prof Anthony O’Regan, consultant respiratory physician, director of postgraduate clinical education at the Saolta University Healthcare Group, and dean of the Institute of Medicine at the Royal College of Physicians.

Members will include Dr Colm Henry, the HSE’s chief clinical officer, as well as NCHDs, hospital consultants, postgraduate training bodies, the Medical Council, HSE National Doctors Training and Planning, Acute Operations, National HR and the Department of Health.

Its full membership will be announced following the taskforce’s inaugural meeting in mid-September.

The Minister has directed that the taskforce be set up for one year “in recognition of the imperative to address priority areas, and to ensure quick progress”. He said he looked forward “to constructive engagement with the national taskforce as we progress this important and significant programme of work”.