Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. The recruitment and retention of doctors at all levels, from medical student to specialist, is important for me as Minister for Health and I am committed to the implementation of the recommendations of the strategic review of medical training and career structure, which was chaired by Professor Brian Mac Craith. Through its various reports, the strategic review working group has offered solutions and recommendations, which, if we see them through, will ensure that we build a sustainable workforce for the future.

I recently received the first progress report on the implementation of the recommendations. I am pleased to say there has been a range of developments which will, I believe, help us recruit and retain doctors, including newly qualified doctors, in our health service.

As the Deputy will be aware, on foot of the working group's recommendations regarding consultant career structures, associated proposals for new salary scales for new consultants were recently supported in a ballot by IMO members. Since then, the HSE has moved quickly to advertise positions with new payscales and there has been considerable interest. I expect that these new scales and improved salaries will help us to keep more of our graduates at home and persuade consultants who are working overseas to return to Ireland.

With regard to the quality of the training experience, there have been a number of developments which I am confident will have a positive impact on the day-to-day working lives and experiences of our trainee doctors. For example, an agreement was reached last summer among health service management, staff associations and the training bodies on protecting training time for trainees. The HSE has issued guidance on implementing this agreement to clinical sites, and I expect that all sites will adhere fully to the agreed annual limits for interns, specialist trainees and other non-consultant hospital doctors on professional competence schemes.

In future, trainees will also have greater predictability regarding their rotations at the outset of their training schemes.

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Most of those commencing basic specialist training this summer will know their rotations for the next two years, and I understand that the HSE and the training bodies are working closely to introduce pre-defined rotations for higher specialist training this July, where they are not already in place. I also see the national implementation of the lead NCHD initiative as a very important step. This initiative was piloted in five hospitals in 2014 and has been expanded to a further 26 hospitals for 2015. The lead NCHD role provides an important link at management level between NCHDs and hospital management. While these are all positive and welcome developments, more remains to be done to implement the full range of recommendations. To support implementation, my Department has established a monitoring group comprising key stakeholders, including trainee doctors. This will help us to drive implementation across the system and embed the recommendations in the day-to-day business practice of the health service.

The first six-monthly progress report was published on my Department's website on 5 March, and I look forward to receiving the next report at the end of June. The report will also be published online so that all stakeholders, particularly trainee doctors, can assess the progress we are making. Finally, it is important to point out that, notwithstanding problems we are having with recruitment and retention, the number of consultants and NCHDs employed by the HSE is at an all-time high and the number of GPs contracts in the HSE is close to an all-time high.

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