Sir, – Dr Dermot Bowden (July 18th) writes about the appalling problems non-consultant hospital doctors face in getting paid by their employer for overtime worked.
When I qualified 37 years ago junior doctors, as they were known then, got paid about one- third of the hourly rate for overtime which was calculated after the doctor worked 140 hours a fortnight. It appears matters have worsened as the “junior doctor” might not get any overtime pay at all now.
If any politician is still wondering why young Irish doctors chose to leave the country they might think on the contents of Dr Bowden’s letter and reach the obvious conclusion. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Dr Bowden’s letter (July 18th) raises serious questions for the HSE. Who has sanctioned the issuance of contracts which the HSE does not intend to honour? Has the CEO and chief accounting officer approved the apparent planned breach of Dr Bowden’s contract by the HSE?
Has the director of human resources sanctioned the rostering of doctors for onerous extra hours of duty in the knowledge that they will not be paid for these hours?
Has the board approved of what is happening? Is there provision in the HSE accounts for future awards that can reasonably be expected to be made by the civil courts to doctors arising from breach of contract claims? It would be interesting to see a response from Mr Magee. – Yours, etc,