Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The HSE are responsible for ensuring that any consultant working in the health services have the necessary qualifications and certifications required to work as a consultant. HSE policy stipulates that consultants who are not registered on the Specialist Register are not to be appointed in a consultant post without adhering to a specific Protocol.

The “Escalation Protocol to Deputy Director General – Chief Operations Officer for prior approval of the employment of any Consultant not on Specialist Division of the Register of the Medical Council of Ireland” is only used in the most exceptional circumstances. Where a consultant post is being filled, all options to recruit a suitable candidate with Specialist Registration must be exhausted before this escalation protocol is invoked.

The measures within the Protocol are designed to ensure that it is only in exceptional circumstances that a doctor who is not on the Specialist Register of the Medical Council is appointed to a consultant post and to ensure appropriate governance and supervision arrangements are in place when such an appointment occurs.