Hospital services may have to be significantly curtailed from the beginning of next month due to shortages of junior doctors which could result in up to 600 front line medical posts nationwide remaining vacant, it was claimed today.
The Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) said the most critical shortages of these doctors, who are "the backbone" of many smaller and medium sized hospitals, were in the specialties of emergency medicine, anaesthesia, paediatrics and obstetrics.
Dr Paul Oslizlok, president of the IHCA, said about 4 per cent of junior doctor posts were vacant last year and this number is expected to double when junior doctors, who change jobs every six months, rotate jobs again on July 1st.
"Everybody knows that these qualified doctors who are training to be specialists carry out a very large part of the work of any hospital. With demand for services increasing, such a radical reduction in a vital area of hospital staffing will have immediate and far reaching effects ... some accident and emergency and obstetrical services may have to close," he said.
"Warning bells have been ringing, particularly in small to medium sized hospitals, as the sudden drop in the number of doctors is predicted to force closure or curtailment of some acute hospital services. The response of the HSE to this well flagged crisis has been disorganised and ineffective," he added.
He said there were a number of reasons for the junior doctor shortage but one significant factor is the fact that around 1,200 of the junior doctors posts in Irish hospitals are no longer being recognised for training purposes by the HSE, making them unattractive to potential applicants.
Dr Oslizlok also expressed concern at the fact that the junior doctors who occupy these non-training posts will also have to go on the general division of the Medical Council's medical register, rather than the training division. This will mean they will be allowed to work unsupervised, which could pose risks to patient safety.
"These doctors, who did not manage to secure training places, will now be allowed to practice independently. They will be free to practice medicine without having their competence formally certified. We are left therefore with the extraordinary position that the more successful doctors will remain under supervision while those who did not succeed in getting a training post will be free to practice independently," he said.
The IHCA has met HSE chief executive Prof Brendan Drumm to outline its concerns and is due to meet Minister for Health Mary Harney on Wednesday.
The HSE has already said it is aware of the shortages and is trying to recruit sufficient numbers of doctors from abroad to fill as many vacancies as possible. However it has acknowledged the staffing shortages may result in services being curtailed.
The Irish Times reported last month that plans have been drawn up by the HSE in the north east to close two wards at Louth County Hospital in Dundalk and 20 beds at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda to deal with the forecasted critical shortage of junior doctors at both hospitals on July 1st.
The Irish Association of Emergency Medicine also warned in April that the shortage of junior doctors could result in some hospital emergency departments having to close or limit their opening hours. It said while the situation was most acute at Naas General Hospital; Portiuncula Hospital, Ballinasloe; Mayo General Hospital, Castlebar; Kerry General Hospital, Tralee; and Letterkenny General Hospital, almost every emergency department in the country has been unable to recruit its full complement of medical staff.