Ms Susan Clyne:

It was based on some of the research we had undertaken.

The problem with consultant recruitment starts with how we treat our trainees, how they work in and are treated by the system, what they see as expected of their senior colleagues and whether they wish to aspire towards working in the same system. There is a changing demographic involving women in medicine, yet the whole structure pertaining to how consultants are trained has not changed. There are no significant efforts towards family-friendly policies, work–life balance and flexible training. There is some commentary around this and we talk about it, but we do not address it. It is almost a shock to us when we hear that women will have babies and that their posts will have to be filled. We do not have a workforce plan anyway but we certainly have no workforce plan for the changing demographics in medicine.

We know our trainees can go to a better system. Let me refer to a very simple practice in Australia. If an individual and her or his partner apply for a post in Australia, the service there will do its best to ensure both work the same shift pattern and do not work hundreds of miles away from each other. These are the things an employer does. One of the things we have forgotten is that doctors in Ireland are highly trained and valued, and they are being headhunted daily.