THE GOVERNMENT has offered increased salaries of up to €295,000 to academic hospital consultants who opt for new contracts under which they would work only in the public sector.
The offer, made last night, has been described by health service management as a final gesture to medical organisations to get a deal on new contracts agreed.
A final contract document was last night being considered by the Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA).
The proposed contract would also give about 700 consultants the right to treat fee-paying patients in private facilities away from their public hospitals.
The IHCA and health service management agreed a deal in principle on a new contract last January, but the process has been delayed by rows over a number of issues in the final contract, including pay for consultants who carry out teaching and research in addition to their clinical duties.
The IHCA said that it would recommend that its members accept the new contract, although a planned ballot was postponed last week as a result of delays in securing final documentation.
Medical bodies had sought salaries of more than €310,000 for medical professors who worked fully in the public sector. However, Health Minister Mary Harney said that this was “not on”.
It is understood that management last night offered higher salaries for academic consultants on the basis that all other elements of the contract were accepted by the IHCA.
The Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) has not indicated its acceptance of the management offers. It still has concerns over pensions and basic pay for consultants.
Under the new proposals academic consultants working exclusively in the public sector would receive salaries up to €295,000; those with limited private practice rights in public and planned co-located private hospitals would receive up to €285,000.
There have been no increases in the pay scales agreed with the IHCA in January for consultants in clinical practice.
Consultants in clinical practice who work exclusively in public hospitals will receive up to €240,000.
Under the new contract consultants will work in teams over an extended working day running from 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday and for five hours at weekends.
New consultants with private practice rights in public hospitals will have to see four public patients for every private patient.
There are currently about 660 consultants with rights to treat fee-paying patients in off-site private hospitals. This number will increase to a maximum of 700 under the new contract.
Management sources have argued that while this represents an increase in real terms it is actually a decrease as a percentage of total numbers of consultants who will be employed in future.