Consultants seek meeting with Noonan as pay deal is rejected

THE Irish Hospital Consultants' Association (IHCA) has requested an "urgent" meeting with the Minister for Health, Mr Noonan, following its members' "unanimous" rejection of pay proposals outlined in a recent Government review.

The vote, taken at an extraordinary general meeting attended by 150 IHCA members in Dublin yesterday, reflected "tremendous frustration" at delays in publishing the proposals in the first place, the association's general council said.

The Buckley Review on Hospital Consultants has recommended increases in consultants' pay of £13,000 a year, at a cost of £13 million to the Exchequer.

The IHCA has met the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) and a joint approach would be made to the Minister on "agreed areas" the association said at a press conference yesterday. Where there were differences of opinion, these would be addressed separately, the IHCA said.

Last week the IMO was strongly critical of the review, and warned that if it formed the sole basis for the next round of negotiations there would be "serious difficulties".

Published by the Department of Finance, the review addresses the remuneration of about 1,000 consultant medical staff in health boards, public voluntary hospitals and other health agencies.

Speaking at yesterday's press conference, Dr Peter Kelly, who is to chair the IHCA negotiating committee on the Buckley proposals, said that in real terms consultants stood to lose out if the proposals were implemented as currently drafted.

The loss of entitlement to "rest days", the failure to deal adequately with other non-pay issues, and reductions in other entitlements almost completely "wiped out" the monetary value of any basic pay increases suggested, he said.

The pay proposals demanded a further 13 per cent increase in productivity, when Department of Health statistics showed there had already been significant improvements by consultants over the past eight years, Dr Kelly said.

Mr Finbarr Fitzpatrick, IHCA general secretary, said the review reflected the lack of sufficient representation by consultants on the review body.

Criticising the delay in publication, Dr James Masterson, IHCA president, said the report had languished for "several months" on the desk of the Minister for Finance - a situation which had exacerbated the difficulties in arriving at an equitable settlement of consultants' pay and conditions. The delay was "completely unjustified", Dr Masterson said.

The IHCA said there had been no criticism of consultants' productivity in the report, yet the group still came out of it badly. Opportunities by consultants to earn additional income from private practice were "not so widespread" as was speculated, the council said. "Indeed, in several specialties, such as paediatrics and psychiatry, the private practice opportunities for consultants are negligible," it maintained.

"For many of our members, their sole income is derived from their position as public servants delivering a vital service to our patients who are our primary concern.

The IHCA is due to meet the Department of Health secretariat on Friday, and the general council is to report back to a further extraordinary general meeting on February 22nd.