Health Minister has failed to act on unreliable pay for hospital doctors, Shortall says

The Minister for Health has been repeatedly warned that unreliable pay is a serious issue for non-consultant hospital doctors (NCHDs) but has failed to act, according to Social Democrats Health Spokesperson Róisín Shortall.

“It is completely unacceptable that NCHDs, all over the country, are left unpaid for up to two months after they join a new hospital,” Deputy Shortall said.

“It is especially egregious given the HSE is paying the salary of these doctors – no matter where they work.

“This has been a persistent problem for years, but no action has been taken to resolve it.

“In fact, I have repeatedly raised research with the Minister for Health, which has outlined that unreliable pay is one of a number of reasons why Irish-trained doctors are not retained or encouraged back to the Irish health service.

“There are currently more than 800 consultant vacancies in the health service. If we ever want to fill these positions, then NCHDs need to be treated with respect and dignity at work.

“At a minimum, this includes being paid on time for the work that they do.

“It should also mean that doctors are not forced to work long hours, in breach of the EU Working Time Directive; have reasonable case-loads and are not expected to work in chronically understaffed hospitals.”