Vol. 537 No. 2
265 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Health and Children if he has received a submission from the IMO detailing problems junior hospital doctors are experiencing in relation to their working hours; and the hospitals at which these problems are being experienced. [16037/01]
I have received regular correspondence from the IMO regarding the terms and conditions of employment of non-consultant hospital doctors. A major study of the hours worked by non-con sultant hospital doctors, NCHDs, was carried out in association with the Irish Medical Organisation. The report recommends major changes to the hours worked by NCHDs further to the implementation of the EU Directive on Working Hours. The immediate task is to reduce the average hours worked by NCHDs at present from 75 to 58 per week in the next three and a half years – an average reduction of 17 hours per week per NCHD or 23%. The report also recommends changes to existing work practices.
I am establishing a national task force with dedicated staff which will report directly to me and whose functions will include the implementation and monitoring of the EU directive on the 48 hour working week and establishing the implications of the report of the Forum on Medical Manpower. It will be necessary to carry out an assessment of these reports to gauge the requirements and quantify the necessary resources, including staff. In order to assess the implications of the recommendations of the report of the forum, it will be necessary to quantify the effect the changes are likely to have on the improvement of services, to examine the workforce changes needed and to assess the costs involved in a representative number of hospitals.
