Press release
Minister Donnelly announces more than 1,500 Consultants have signed the new Public-Only Sláintecare Contract
From Department of Health
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Health
Published on
Last updated on
The Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, has today announced that 1,548 consultants have signed the new contract since it was launched last March.
This means that more than 35% of the total number of consultants working across our health service are now on the new contract. Hundreds more applicants are also being processed by the Health Service Executive (HSE).
There has been a significant increase in the number of consultants who are employed across our health service, with a large increase occurring during the last four years.
There are 4,235 consultants (whole-time equivalents) currently working in the public health service. In comparison, there were 3,250 consultants (whole-time equivalents) in December 2019, which highlights the very substantial 30 per cent growth in the number of consultants working in our public health service over this period.
Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly said:
“I am delighted to see the positive response to the Public-Only Consultant Contract. The introduction of this contract represents a landmark in delivering Universal Healthcare. It is a progressive contract that puts the interests of patients to the fore. This new contract is facilitating a transition away from the provision of private care in public hospitals and ensuring that state resources are provided in accordance with patient need rather than a patient’s ability to pay. The contract compares very favourably with other health services around the world, and it is clearly proving attractive to potential candidates."
The 1,548 Public-Only Contracts includes 306 new entrant consultants who have joined our health service and 1,242 consultants who have switched from their previous contracts.
The top three specialities that are seeing the largest uptake of the contract to date are General Medicine, Anaesthetics and Surgery.
A key objective of the Public-Only Consultant Contract is to extend the hours that consultants, who are senior clinical decision-makers, are on duty across the health services.
Under this contract, consultants can be asked to work 8am to 10pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 6pm Saturday as part of their core 37-hour week. The contract is a public only contract, meaning consultants will only treat public patients in public hospitals.
Having an extended consultant presence on duty results in reduced emergency admissions, more rapid and appropriate decision-making, shorter lengths of stay, better patient flow and improved outcomes for patients.
The new Public-Only Consultant Contract is an important step towards introducing reforms to our health service which will allow for enhanced care and greater out-of-hours and weekend presence of consultants in our hospitals, thus enhancing patient flow. This contract will allow Ireland to operate in a highly competitive international employment market, enticing new entrants into the HSE.
The new Sláintecare contract includes: