Cancer and heart patients awaiting tests will suffer "further unacceptably long delays for investigation and treatment" if the hours of junior doctors are dramatically reduced in three weeks' time, the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland has warned.
Its president, Prof T J McKenna, said yesterday the European Working Time Directive, which requires all hospitals to reduce junior doctors hours to 58 a week from August 1st, will directly affect standards of medical practice.
Junior doctors work an average of 72 hours a week, and the directive, which must be complied with, will result in their hours being cut by up to 20 per cent. The time available to care for patients who are ill but not acutely so will be reduced. "Thus the so-called elective care of patients, e.g., those with cancer, heart problems etc., will suffer further unacceptably long delays for investigation and treatment," Prof McKenna said.
Failure to comply with the legislation will leave hospitals open to large fines and having to pay compensation to doctors whose hours are not cut. But preparations for its implementation have been hampered by a standoff between the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO), which represents the junior doctors, and the Health Service Employers' Agency (HSEA).
The HSEA, as well as the Minister for Health, Mr Martin, claim the doctors want to protect their large overtime payments and want overtime if rostered outside the hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The IMO accepts it wants overtime for hours worked outside this block but says its primary concern is that doctors are being asked to sign up to new rosters that would compromise patient care. This was unacceptable, its industrial relations director, Mr Fintan Hourihan, said.
Prof McKenna said doctors' working time was currently compromised as a result of having to undertake inappropriate tasks.
"As a matter of urgency the Department of Health and Children must ensure that hospital managements have the resources necessary to free doctors from inappropriate tasks by expanding secretarial resources, enhancing and expanding the role of nurses, ensuring a 24-hour phlebotomy service, enhancing the capacities of all diagnostic services in relation to the level of activity and hours worked, upgrading all IT resources in hospitals and expanding the number of consultants," he said.
He said the Royal College of Physicians advised Mr Martin in May of its concerns and how they could be addressed. Since then its concerns had grown.
A spokesman for the Department of Health blamed the IMO for not participating in local implementation groups which would have drawn up plans on what extra staffing and resources were required for the implementation of the directive in their area.