With the international SARS crisis hovering between containment and becoming endemic this was not the time to escalate the public health doctors' dispute, as the Minister for Health, Mr Martin, did over the weekend.
His speech to the Irish Medical Organisation's conference in Killarney publicly identified management-level doctors who he said should not have joined the picket lines, but remained on duty to provide emergency cover. It has had the effect of escalating the dispute by provoking fellow-doctors and other health service unions to take action in support of their striking colleagues. Coming at a time when it is vital to contain the SARS virus this was an ill-judged decision, whose consequences should have been foreseen by the Minister. ...
There are times when prudence is the better part of valour, and this was one of them. The striking doctors and their union make the strong point that their grievances have been at issue for many years, long before the SARS issue emerged. They are looking for a reformed and more equitable medical and career structure capable of providing full-time advice to doctors and the public. Their frustration about the Department of Health's delay in responding to such a long-standing claim is clearly a factor in the dispute, to be set against their responsibilities during a medical emergency. The public interest is better served by resolving the dispute rapidly rather than by escalating it on a point of principle about managerial responsibility, however valid that is. The terms of a settlement will have to deal with this issue.
The public health doctors are an essential part of the State's armoury in combating the SARS virus by establishing clear-cut medical procedures, an alert containment regime, together with accurate and balanced medical communication with the public. Using such methods it should be possible to contain the disease in Ireland and throughout the world. Day by day the medical and economic importance of doing so becomes more obvious and pressing.
In these circumstances the Minister and the striking doctors should redouble their efforts to reach a settlement. Mr Martin deserves support from his Cabinet colleagues in finding the necessary resources to do so equitably. For its part the IMO must take full account of the medical emergency which has engulfed these negotiations. It has been made to look worse than it is by confusion about diagnosis and safeguards, not all of which arise from the inherent uncertainty created by the emergence of a new viral disease. By all accounts the strike has directly affected the capacity to deal with the public health problem. It must be settled as soon as possible.