Seanad debates
Wednesday, 25 June 2003
Council Regulation on Procedures for amending the Sirene Manual: Referral to Joint Committee. - Health Service Reform: Statements (Resumed).
There is a suggestion in the report that consultants be made accountable. Of course people must be accountable but it is the manner in which it is expressed. These are very scarce commodities and very special people. If they do not get jobs in this country, the world is their oyster. Does talk of accountability mean they will be sacked or disciplined? That must be sensitively handled. I would rather see it done by involving ethics and other factors. There is a different calculus between the accountant and the manager and the consultant. We are thinking in terms of resources and they are thinking in terms of the care of patients. Somewhere, some place, a middle ground must be found.
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