Vol. 496 No. 3
301 Ms Shortall asked the Minister for Health and Children the number of consultant doctors in the health service; the consultant-population ratio; the average ratio in other EU states; his views on the adequacy of the ratio in this State; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22937/98]
There are approximately 1,350 hospital consultant posts in the public sector. It is difficult to compare the work of hospital consultants across EU countries because of the different functions performed and the degree of accessability to public and private patients. In Ireland the present consultant population ratio is approximately one consultant per 2,660 people while in Scotland and Northern Ireland, areas which would be similar, the ratio in 1996 was approximately one per 1,990 of population and one per 1,930 of population respectively.
I have established the forum on medical manpower to review in a fundamental way the medical staffing in public hospitals. The focus of the medical manpower initiative concerns addressing the imbalance between career posts and training posts; the need to improve postgraduate medical training to keep more Irish medical graduates in this country, and the need to provide the highest quality of medical care for those who require the services of hospitals.
There are approximately two junior doctors for every consultant employed. Non-consultant hospital doctors regard career prospects as poor and a large number emigrate. Young doctors tend to leave at the point where they have just acquired the skills and expertise and are ready to make a real contribution to Irish hospitals. Women doctors also leave the system and we need to examine the reasons why this is happening so that solutions can be found to facilitate the optimum use of their skills and develop training structures to accommodate their needs.
Other areas which require attention are the different needs of larger and smaller hospitals, combining other disciplines with medical staffing, e.g. general practitioners and nurses, and coping with the demographic changes which have occurred in Irish society.
