Written answers
Tuesday, 30 September 2014
Department of Health
Hospital Staff
Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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108. To ask the Minister for Health the position regarding the consultant posts which are being filled by agency staff in Letterkenny General Hospital; the length of time that these posts have been filled by agency staff; the total cost to Letterkenny General Hospital in 2014 of the agency consultants; the efforts his Department is making to ensure that these consultant posts are filled by permanent staff; when he expects the posts to be filled; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36540/14]
Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The HSE have advised that there are currently 7.5 WTE consultant posts in Letterkenny being filled by agency (hourly rate of pay) consultants as follows:
WTE's
| No. of posts | Posts filled | Department |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Have been filled by Agency Staff since August 2014 | Paeds and MAU |
| 0.5 | Has been filled since June 2009 | Radiology |
| 1 | Has been filled since April 2011 | Radiology |
| 1 | Has been filled since July 2013 | Medicine |
| 1 | Has been filled since 2008 | ED |
| 1 | Has been filled since October 2013 | Oncology |
| 1 | has been filled since September 2014 | Surgery |
The cost of WTE agency paid consultants to LGH in 2014 as at the 31st July 2014 is €933K (January to July) inclusive of agency fees and VAT at 23%. The HSE has advised that every attempt has been made to fill these posts on a permanent basis and that consultants are only employed via agency when all other opportunities to recruit on payroll have been exhausted. Posts have been advertised nationally on a number of occasions for the Department of Radiology and Emergency Medicine, however, no suitable candidates were identified. Of the 7.5 WTE consultants employed through agency, two of these posts have only recently become vacant, while one of the posts is a new consultant post. It is envisaged that all of the posts will be advertised for filling on a permanent basis in the foreseeable future and they are currently with the HSE’s National Recruitment Service.
Measures are in train to support consultant recruitment and retention. In July 2013 Minister Reilly established a Working Group, chaired by Professor Brian MacCraith, to carry out a strategic review of medical training and career structures. One of the recommendations from the MacCraith report, that the relevant parties commence a timetabled IR engagement of short duration to address the barrier caused by the variation in rates of remuneration that have emerged since 2012 between new entrant consultants and their established peers. A number of meetings between the management (HSE, Departments of Health and Public Expenditure and Reform) and the IMO on this recommendation were facilitated by the LRC. Management presented a paper setting out a new career and pay structure for consultants. The LRC has made related recommendations, involving enhanced pay scales for new entrant consultants, and these are currently being considered by the IMO.
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