Hospital consultants have rejected proposals put forward by health service management that senior doctors in certain specialities should be on call in hospitals on some days for 24 hours a day.
It is understood that at talks yesterday on a new contract for consultants, medical organisations also opposed proposals that senior doctors should be rostered to work at weekends as part of normal duties.
Informed sources said that the Irish Hospital Consultants' Association and the Irish Medical Organisation argued that there was no evidence from any OECD country of the need to have consultants working in hospitals on a 24/7 basis. However, it is understood that the medical organisations suggested there should be some structured consultant presence in hospitals at weekends to facilitate the discharge of patients and to deal with emergencies. Management had proposed that consultants should be rostered each week for five out of every seven days.
Sources close to the medical organisations said little progress were made at the talks yesterday. The negotiations resume today.
The independent chairman of the talks process, senior counsel Mark Connaughton, is expected to indicate at the weekend whether he believes there is a basis for success.
The introduction of a new contract for hospital consultants is one of the key elements of the Government's overall healthcare reforms. However, this process has been beset for years by delays and rows.
Health service management said last week that the current negotiations represented the last chance for an agreement for the foreseeable future.
If these talks are unsuccessful, it is expected that the Government will press ahead and unilaterally introduce a new contract with revised terms and conditions. The medical organisations have warned that such a move would lead to a dispute.
It is understood that the talks yesterday did not discuss the issue of pay. It is understood that there was disagreement between the parties on whether consultants in emergency medicine had a right to private practice in public hospitals.