Bernard Allen
Ceist:417 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Health and Children if he will make a statement on the status of new Medical Council regulations on locum consultants. [20983/01]
Written Answers. - Consultant Appointments.
The Medical Council is the independent body, established under the Medical Practitioners Act, 1978, to ensure the highest standards of patient care by medical practitioners in Ireland. Under this Act, the Medical Council has a statutory responsibility to regulate provisional, full and temporary registration. In order to maintain these standards the Medical Council has notified all hospitals in Ireland of new guidelines relating to the appointment of temporarily registered doctors wishing to register as locum/temporary consultants. The Medical Council has indicated that, from 1 July 2001, temporarily registered doctors wishing to register as locum/temporary consultants are required to possess the standard of training and experience set out by the relevant specialist training body. The council has indicated that NCHDs may act up for brief periods of time, for example, holiday and study leave cover, as long as this acting up occurs in the hospitals for which the doctors are registered and so long as they have available to them the advice of a fully trained consultant in the relevant speciality. The Medical Council, in recognition of difficulties which may be encountered by hospitals in obtaining cover, has indicated that, in certain cases and subject to certain criteria and prior approval being sought from the Council, the implementation date for these guidelines will be extended to 1 January 2002.