Issues over pay, private practice rights and hours of work are set to be the main items on the agenda when talks resume today between health service management and medical organisations on a new contract for hospital consultants.
The talks are to take place over three days this week at Killashee House Hotel near Naas in Co Kildare but it is expected that the negotiations could be extended into next week.
The independent chairman of the talks process, senior counsel Mark Connaughton, has not put forward a new document for discussion at the talks. The negotiations will be based on documents produced in the spring and early summer.
Mr Connaughton has held bilateral meetings with the Health Service Executive (HSE) - Employers Agency and with the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) and the Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) over recent weeks in advance of the new plenary session of the talks.
The introduction of a new contract for hospital consultants is one of the key elements of the Government's overall healthcare reforms.
However, these negotiations have been beset by rows, delays and walk-outs for more than three years.
The Government is seeking to employ about 1,600 additional hospital consultants on revised terms and conditions.
Under proposals put forward by the HSE, consultants would in future have no, or very restricted rights, to treat private patients. They would also work as part of teams over an extended working day under the direction of a clinical director.
The HSE also has proposed that consultants would be rostered to work at weekends as part of their normal duties.
Health service management has proposed salaries of up to €205,000 with the possibility of an additional bonus of up to 20 per cent, for consultants opting for the new contract.
Medical organisations are unhappy with the pay offer as well as the proposed restrictions on private practice rights and the hours of work put forward by management.
Consultants also want to retain the right to advocate on behalf of patients - a clause in their existing contract which allows them to speak out publicly on issues.
If no agreement is reached between the parties at the forthcoming talks, it is generally believed that the Government will press ahead with its plans to appoint, unilaterally, new consultants on revised terms and conditions.
Last April the Government authorised the HSE to advertise for 68 consultants on revised terms. This process, however, has been suspended to facilitate the new talks. The HSE has also recently announced the appointment of a further 60 consultants under its controversial 100-plus scheme to hospitals which made progress in tackling problems in accident and emergency. These posts will also be advertised under a new contract.
Any move by the Government to appoint new consultants on revised terms without agreement could lead to industrial action by senior doctors in hospitals.