Sir, - I was most interested to read Fintan O'Toole's remarks about medical research in Ireland. They seem to result from conversations with two gentlemen who have worked in Ireland and are currently employed to carry out research in the US. He does not quote any conversations with individuals carrying out research in Ireland at present! If he had done so he might have received opinions and information from people such as Dr Dermot O'Donoghue or people mentioned in Dr W. Tormey's letter (September 19th).
For the record, my own department has been engaged in productive research for the past 15 years of exactly the type Mr O'Toole refers to, i.e. translational research "from the lab to the bedside". Colleagues from my department have received "best investigator" awards from the British Society for Haematology and the European Blood and Bone Marrow Transplant Group and have won competitive research grants from the EU Biomed 1 and 2 programmes. Much of the research is directly linked to our bone marrow transplant programme which is as successful as any similar unit in the US. More recently another colleague has had his research on meningococcal septicaemia widely commented upon in the media, including The Irish Times.
When doing comparative research it is important to compare like with like. Having worked at the University of Minnesota and the University of Washington I am in a position to offer a comparative comment. The majority of "specialists" in America are involved in private practice and do not conduct laboratory-based research. A number of "full-time" university medical faculty members are employed primarily to carry out laboratory-based research and their salaries are dependent on receiving adequate research funding. They commonly have very little clinical responsibility, in some cases as little as one month a year "attending" in-patients with a small out-patient commitment throughout the year.
In contrast the vast majority of consultants in university teaching hospitals in Ireland do not receive any personal payment for conducting research and have an enormous clinical and teaching load. Many of the researchers mentioned by Dr Tormey, including colleagues in my department, carry out their research after normal working hours, i.e. at night-time or at weekends, and often at the expense of private practice. So, Mr O'Toole, please compare like with like.
I would agree completely with Mr O'Toole when he calls for more research funding for medical and biotechnological research. Consultants and scientists have been screaming at the Department of Health and various governments for years in order to obtain more money for research. Instead of making snide remarks about consultants, why doesn't he give constructive support to those of us who are struggling to improve the position of medical research in Ireland?
As Dr Tormey points out, we are well aware of the shortage of consultants in Ireland. It is possible that in some cases consultants have blocked or delayed the appointment of colleagues in order to protect their private practice, but in my experience of my own speciality, and I could give Mr O'Toole documentary evidence if he was interested, the Department has been bombarded for many years to provide the finances to employ more consultants.
Yes, we have known for years that medical research has been grossly underfinanced in Ireland. Some constructive support from journalists might serve to improve the situation. - Yours, etc., Prof Shaun R. McCann,
Professor of Haematology and Consultant Haematologist, St James's Hospital and Trinity College Dublin.