Michael McHale , 2025-04-25 07:31:00
Motion says review should take into account ‘impacts of wider hospital functioning’
The HSE and Minister for Health should consider a ‘comprehensive review’ into plans to increase consultant staffing in hospitals at weekends, members of the Irish Medical Organisation will propose.
With its AGM taking place this weekend, the IMO has published a list of motions which will be discussed and voted on by its various committees.
On Saturday, members of the IMO Consultant Committee will discuss a call for the HSE and Health Minister to undertake a review into ‘the advantages and feasibility of increased rostering of consultant staff over weekends’.
According to the motion, any such review should take into account ‘safe staffing, recruitment and retention, (and) impacts on wider hospital functioning’.
The issue of consultant staffing has been brought to the fore in recent weeks after new Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill called for increased rostering at weekends to prevent a backlog of patients occupying hospital beds for longer than necessary, particularly when there is a Bank Holiday.
After the St Patrick’s weekend she issued a statement which appeared to vindicate her theory, arguing that the increased presence of decision-makers on-site contributed to a 70 per cent reduction in trolley numbers, when compared to the previous St Brigid’s weekend.
Figures she provided earlier this month suggested that the introduction of the new public only consultant contract (POCC) has not translated to a shift in working patterns. This is despite the contract providing for consultant cover across six days a week.
“The reality is that almost all consultants are currently on rosters which involve covering unscheduled care (i.e. emergencies) on weekends,” chair of the IMO Consultant Committee Prof Matthew Sadlier said previously.
“As most consultants have signed up to the new contract it is evident that there is an appetite amongst consultants to provide enhanced care over weekends.
“However, for this to be effective and produce meaningful results there would need to be an uplift not only in consultant numbers but also amongst all other staff groups within the hospital. Just rostering consultants at weekends in the current situation would just result in significant gaps in the service from Monday to Friday.”
Responding to the motion, a Department of Health spokesperson said that work is ongoing ‘to review consultant rosters, to ensure the health service is maximising the use of the hours in the contract, in order to benefit patient care’.
“In parallel to maximising the POCC, the HSE is planning for 5/7 working consultants to be rostered over seven days, and in the evenings and on public holidays (5/7 working), across all services that are relevant to improving patient flow in emergency departments and outpatient services,” added the spokesperson.
“The HSE is working to develop regional plans to implement 5/7, so that this whole-hospital approach can be replicated across the country.”
The proposal is among nine motions to be voted on by members of the IMO’s consultant committee. One of those includes a call for a ‘more comprehensive package of metrics’ to be used when measuring hospital productivity.
According to the motion, such new metrics would include ‘failed discharges, patient satisfaction, functional outcome, morbidity and mortality’.
The NCHD committee will discuss ten motions, including a call for the HSE and Department of Health to acknowledge that junior doctors are regularly working for more than 48 hours per week, in breach of the Organisation of Working Time Act.
A NCHD Taskforce report, published in February 2024, contained 44 recommendations to improve the workplace experience of junior doctors. The first of these included a call for NCHD rostering to be in line with existing laws on working hours.
At the time, then Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said ‘It is critical that the recommendations of the NCHD taskforce are progressed as a matter of urgent priority’.
A motion for debate among the IMO’s national public health and community health doctors will highlight staffing vacancy levels of up to 20 per cent in this specialty.
Clinicians will vote on a call for the HSE to ‘urgently review’ staffing levels in Community Health Departments and Public Health Regions and ‘prioritise recruitment to allow for the continued delivery of vital work in child development, vaccination and health protection,’ and other areas.
They will also discuss motions on addressing gaps in the pay and conditions of senior medical officers in order to bring them into line with comparable colleagues.
The IMO GP Committee has included 14 motions for debate. Among them is a call for the Department of Health to engage with the IMO on plans in the new programme for Government for a ‘comprehensive women’s health programme in general practice including advice on contraception, sexually transmitted infections, screening, fertility and pre-conception and support for women experiencing menopause’.
Committee member Dr Daragh O’Neill will also raise a motion calling for an end to the need for GPS to transcribe prescriptions created by other doctors, due to the availability of e-prescription software for GPs, hospitals and community doctors.
“This will reduce the risks involved, for both the GP and patient, in the transcribing process,” the motion argues.
“It will also allow more timely dispensing of medication for the patient. It will also ensure that the responsibility and liability for the prescription remains with the actual prescribing clinician.”
