Dr. Mark Murphy:

I extend my gratitude to Deputies and Senators for their support in advocating the rights of non-consultant hospital doctors in the past 18 months. I also thank the committee for giving us the opportunity to speak today. I will be very direct. NCHDs have absolutely horrendous working conditions. Hospitals are not what they used to be in the 1980s and 1990s. There are chronic diseases, an aging population and treatments that were not available then such as for heart attacks. Hospitals operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year and NCHDs provide care on that basis. Hospitals are, wrongly, entirely reliant on NCHDs to provide that care.