Consultants 'negative' on new contracts

Consultant members of the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) have been "unanimously negative" in their response to proposals from health service management for a revised contract for senior hospital doctors.

Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) negotiators are to consider the proposals at a meeting today. It is understood there are also strong concerns among its members at some aspects of the proposed deal including the new hours of work and planned Government reforms of eligibility arrangements for public hospitals.

The Irish Times revealed yesterday that management has offered salary scales of up to €216,000 for consultants who take a new contract which would see them work exclusively in public hospitals.

The new salary scales represent increases of up to €18,000 in some instances over those proposed several months ago. Management has offered two types of contract, one with no private practice rights and the other allowing for fee-paying patients to be seen on a limited basis in public or co-located hospitals. It has also offered new arrangements for existing consultants with rights to treat fee-paying patients in off-site private hospitals.

The new deal would see consultants in future working as part of teams over an extended working day. Consultants would be rostered from 7am to 10pm, Monday to Friday. On Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays management is seeking to have a "structured" consultant presence in the hospital for a five-hour period in the morning and in the afternoon.

The draft contract also proposes new restrictions on private practice for consultants in emergency medicine, radiology and pathology.

Sources close to the IMO said there had been a "unanimously negative" response of members who had seen the proposals.

The IHCA said that it would be reserving its position on the proposals until they were considered by its negotiating team today and until after a meeting with the independent chairman of the current talks process.