Newspapers in general, and The Irish Times in particular, were strongly criticised during a debate at the annual meeting of the Irish Hospital Consultants Association on Saturday.
Dr Peter Kelly, IHCA council member and consultant pathologist at the Mater Hospital, was opposing a motion that "the media give balanced coverage of medical matters". The motion had been proposed by Mr Seβn O'Rourke of the RT╔ News at One programme.
Dr Kelly described last year's Unhealthy State series of articles in The Irish Times as an attack on a single small group in the health service and said it amounted to a "scapegoating" of hospital consultants. The series contained "selective quotes" and "unsubstantiated assertions" whose effect was to "blame rather than explain".
According to Dr Kelly, the existence of the Broadcasting Act meant "broadcast media are more balanced, in general, than print media".
Mr O'Rourke told consultants "genuine questions will and must be asked" about the health service. He suggested that before they "shoot the messenger" consultants should reflect on the truism that there was "no such thing as a bad question, only bad answers". Acknowledging that very few journalists are among the 26,000 people on public hospital waiting lists, he suggested if the issue affected them more directly, journalists might provide more coverage of health and medical matters.
Dr Kelly questioned the propriety of a tabloid newspaper using a picture of retained organs in storage in buckets during the organ retention scandal. He was also critical of a Sunday newspaper's coverage of a report on death rates in the State's hospitals.
According to Dr Kelly, the recent publication of an article on the health service by Nuala O'Faolain in The Irish Times was based on "stereotypes, contradictions, and simplistic misconceptions". He accused her of writing an "ill-informed, prejudiced rant" and questioned whether it was the policy of The Irish Times to publish articles which "promote prejudices".
Mr Maurice Stokes, a consultant surgeon in Drogheda, spoke from the floor and suggested media coverage was "not all doom and gloom". He praised a recent "Irishman's Diary" by Kevin Myers that dealt with his treatment in Tallaght Hospital.
Mr O'Rourke said we need to hear much more from medical consultants, especially concerning issues of inequality, the two-tier health system and waiting lists.
Dr Kelly advised his consultant colleagues not to allow erroneous statements in the media to go unchallenged. "Don't be fobbed off and don't be afraid of the media. The indefensible is just that," he said.