IMO calls for ringfencing of ‘realistic’ health budget

Any incoming government must ringfence a realistic and fair budget for the health services, according to the incoming president of the Irish Medical Organisation.

Dr John Duddy said there was “real concern” that the necessary investment and leadership will be beyond the scope of what is likely to be an unstable, short-term administration.

The current budget process for health was “simply not credible”, Dr Duddy told the IMO annual conference in Sligo.

“Nobody really believes the figures when the budget is announced and within weeks stories are planted about potential overruns and problems.

“The process has no credibility largely because the figures proposed are insufficient to enable the health service to operate on an appropriate basis.”

Commentary criticised

Dr Duddy, a neurosurgical registrar at Beaumont Hospital, criticised political commentary that characterised health as a political problem “when in fact it is everything to do with real life”.

“It’s about people receiving life-changing treatments, people on trolleys and on endless waiting lists for urgently needed surgery, people in emergency departments desperately waiting for help.”

Delegates at the conference strongly criticised the outgoing Government over consultant salary increases it says are due since 2009.

The IMO says the money is due under the terms of the 2008 consultant contract, but has been unlawfully withheld by the HSE over the past seven years. It plans to take legal proceedings to recover the funds.

Dr Trevor Duffy, a rheumatologist at Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown in Dublin, said the issue was not one of money but rather a lack of trust in the HSE.

As an employer, it “says one thing and does another”, he said. The willingness of staff to go the extra mile was being eroded by “bruising, punitive side-swipes” from management.

Emergency medicine consultant Dr Peadar Gilligan said doctors or anyone else who entered a contract should have a realistic expectation of it being honoured. The HSE had a record of fighting and losing legal cases, thereby wasting money; he suggested it should be held accountable for the cases lost.

Passed unanimously

Motions calling on the Government and the HSE to honour the terms and conditions of the 2008 contract, and to avoid a long and expensive legal battle, were passed unanimously.

The IMO’s legal advisers, John O’Connor solicitors, told delegates its case had a good prospect of success but there were no guarantees. The HSE, if it contests the claim, is expected to use the defence of the public interest and “financial reality”.

The HSE could face a bill of €250-300 million if the consultants’ claim is successful.