IMO says one third of hospitals fail to meet reduced working hours targets for doctors

Up to a third of the State's hospitals have been found to have made insufficient progress in reducing the working hours of non-consultant hospital doctors and now face fines, the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) has said.

The organisation said that among the hospitals where financial sanctions would be applied were Beaumont Hospital; the Mater; Our Lady's Children's Hospital, Crumlin; the Rotunda Hospital; Letterkenny General Hospital; Cavan/Monaghan Hospital, Midland Regional Hospital, Portlaoise; and the Limerick group of hospitals.

The IMO said a verification group, established under a settlement that ended a strike by non-consultant hospital doctors last year, had met on Thursday to review progress on compliance with the EU working time directive and in particular the achievement of maximum 24-hour shifts in the State’s health system.

IMO assistant director of industrial relations Eric Young said up to €650,000 could be deducted from a hospital's budget under the financial sanctions if it was found to be non-compliant for a full year.

In a statement last night, the HSE said the current results from the verification exercise “has identified 91 per cent overall compliance in relationship to achievement of maximum 24-hour shift. This represents significant improvement since January 2012.

“Within the Joint LRC agreement where necessary hospitals not securing necessary performance improvements will be subject to corrective action including sanctions by the National Director of Hospitals.”