Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

The Deputy referred to the average working time of consultants. The majority of consultants in the public hospital system work considerably longer hours that he says. They work way beyond their contractual commitment, which is 37 hours. The new team approach with a clinical director will ensure hospitals are appropriately covered. Safe care cannot be delivered through the manner in which we organise doctor services in our hospitals and that is one of the issues driving the reconfiguration. What has happened in the mid-west with the 12 surgeons in the region working as a team will deliver much safer, better and more care for patients there.

A large number of consultants have been recruited in recent years. We have almost doubled the number of consultants in the system over the past 15 years and we need to go further. Between 3,000 and 4,000 are probably needed. I encourage all Members to read the new HealthStat information and perhaps the Joint Committee on Health and Children can examine it. It highlights a significant variation in activity across, and within, different specialties. That information could, hopefully, alleviate many of the pressure points relating to access to consultants. One neurologist in Dublin can see 95 new patients a month while another can see between 12 and 20 a month. In addition to increasing the number of consultants, it needs to be ensured that activity levels are appropriate when we make these key appointments.

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