Agency doctors ‘can earn €71,000 more than those in full-time posts’

Some locum doctors working for the health service through employment agencies will receive €71,000 more under a controversial new contract than if they held full-time posts, figures drawn up by the Health Service Executive suggest.

The HSE has been at the centre of a row with agency doctors over recent days in a dispute over reduced payments under the new framework contract for the provision of short-term/temporary medical agency placements.

Some doctors have refused to work for the reduced rates, leading to greater pressure being placed on some emergency departments in hospitals across the country.

The HSE maintained on Thursday that a register working through an agency in the specialities of emergency medicine, anaesthetics, paediatrics or obstetrics and gynaecology would receive €141,930 annually based on an average 48-hour week, comprising 39 hours on basic pay and nine hours overtime/on-site on-call and participation in off-site on-call duties including weekends.

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Responsibilities

The HSE said this was €71,391 more than the annual salary of a registrar in similar specialities with similar duties and responsibilities working full time as an employee of the health authority.

The HSE said that prior to the introduction of the reduced fee arrangements, the registrar working through the agency received in excess of €100,000 more than their counterparts working in full-time positions.

The HSE said the salary figures produced were based on a doctor on the mid-point of the relevant pay scale.

The HSE said some hospital consultants working through an agency in specialities such as emergency medicine, anaesthetics, paediatrics and obstetrics and gynaecology could receive annual payments of just under €256,000 based on an average 48-hour week, comprising 39 hours on basic pay and nine hours overtime/on-site on-call and participation in off-site on-call duties including weekends.

Savings

The HSE said this would be €46, 852 more than a similar consultant working identical arrangements in a full-time position would receive.

The HSE said that rates paid to agency doctors under the revised contract would fall from €40 to €34 per hour. The new initiative, which came into effect at the beginning of September, is aimed at generating savings of €53 million over four years.

The HSE said that hospital groups across the country reported that there was full medical cover on all sites on Thursday. However, it said that challenges remained.

It said all hospital emergency departments were open.