Vol. 522 No. 3
28 Ms McManus asked the Minister for Health and Children the plans he has to tackle the serious medical manpower crisis in our hospitals; if he will give the number of consultant vacancies in hospitals; the steps planned to fill these; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18529/00]
The staffing requirements of hospitals and the deployment of staff within hospitals is a matter for local management having regard to the services which hospitals are expected to provide. There are particular staffing difficulties being faced by the health services at present across a wide range of areas, particularly in the medical, paramedical and nursing areas.
Action is being taken on a number of fronts to address these difficulties. However in relation to the medical staffing of hospitals, the issues are currently being addressed by the Medical Manpower Forum. With particular regard to non-consultant hospital doctors the forum is seeking to redress the imbalance between career posts and training posts, the need to improve postgraduate medical training to keep more Irish medical graduates in the country, and the need to look at the position of women in medicine in Ireland with a view to redressing the number who leave medicine. The Medical Manpower Forum is due to publish its first report shortly.
The number of consultant posts is regulated by Comhairle na nOspideal. According to Comhairle na nOspideal, the consultant establishment on 1 January 2000 was 1440. There were 147 vacant approved posts on this date. However, a post approved by Comhairle na nOspideal is classified as vacant until an appointee takes up duty in a permanent capacity. However, in most cases replacement posts are filled by locums until the permanent appointee is installed. In relation to the filling of new consultant posts, I have recently received and accepted the recommendations of a working group established to speed up the appointment process, i.e. the time it takes from initial approval to putting a consultant in place.
