Vol. 401 No. 5
5 Mr. Yates asked the Minister for Health the measures he proposed to take arising from the publication of the Gleeson report concerning pay and conditions of hospital consultants; and if he will outline the implementation of these recommendations and the revision of the current common contract in relation to private practice work which operates at present.
28 Tomás Mac Giolla asked the Minister for Health if it is intended to implement the recommendations of the Gleeson report on consultants salaries; if he will make it a condition of the proposed salary increases that all consultants will be required to treat public and private patients in the same room, or out-patients department, under the same conditions and from the same waiting lists; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I intend taking Question Nos. 5 and 28 together.
The report of the Gleeson Review Body in respect of hospital consultants which was published last month provides a basis for discussion with the medical profession on the remuneration of consultant medical staff employed by health boards, public voluntary hospitals and other health agencies, and the terms and conditions which should attach to them. Discussions will commence shortly between my Department and the medical profession on the basis of the recommendations of the report. Implementation of these recommendations is dependent on the outcome of these discussions and it is my view that public utterances at this juncture, by the parties involved, on the detail of the report would be unhelpful to the success of these discussions. Indeed I am of the view that initial reaction to the report should, in the first instance, be communicated directly between the parties to the report. Having said that, it is my view that the recommendations in the report can lead to satisfactory new arrangements to the benefit of the patients for whom the services are provided.
Is the Minister aware that some representatives of the medical profession have rejected this report out of hand in the last few days? In view of that, will he state his position and say whether he is satisfied with the present common contract and whether it makes explicit arrangements between public and private practice? Will he state to this House whether he favours the creation of fulltime hospital consultant posts so that some consultants, for an agreed salary, would work exclusively for public patients to ensure that this inequality of a two-tier health service is discontinued.
As I have said, because I am a party to this report, having been given responsibility by Government when the report was published to enter discussions with the consultants on the recommendations in the report, I do not think it would be appropriate for me to discuss in detail here my views on the various points raised by the Deputy. All I can say is that we hope to have the first round of discussions before the end of this month.
A final supplementary.
And a brief supplementary, Deputy Yates. Time is almost up.
I do not think it unreasonable for the Minister to state his overall objectives in any such discussions. Is his objective to renegotiate the contract or is he happy with the present situation?
As I have said, I believe the recommendations in the report can lead to satisfactory new arrangements for the benefit of the patients.
