Talks aimed at negotiating a new contract for hospital consultants will finally resume this week.
The talks between health service employers and the two bodies representing consultants, the Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) and the Irish Medical Organisation, have been stalled since February.
Their resumption, due on Thursday next, follows the intervention of the independent chairman of the talks, Mark Connaughton SC, who put proposals to both sides last month which succeeded in breaking the deadlock. He asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to lift its ban on the appointment of category II consultants for the duration of the talks and it agreed.
Category II consultant contracts allow consultants working in public hospitals to also work off-site in private hospitals. The board of the HSE had decided in January to abolish this type of contract, and replace it with public hospital-only contracts.
The other contentious issues, such as how much consultants should get paid for agreeing to changed work practices, will on the basis of Mr Connaughton's proposals have to be agreed at the talks table, as will what happens to category II posts sanctioned but not filled when the HSE board's decision was made in January.
The negotiation of a new contract for hospital consultants is seen as one of the main building blocks of the health service reform programme. The plan is to reach a deal with consultants which will see them work in teams around the clock so that patients will be more likely to be seen by a consultant rather than a junior doctor when they enter hospital, whether that be day or night.
IHCA president Dr Mary McCaffrey said yesterday consultants looked forward to the resumption of the contract negotiations. "Consultants expect to see a comprehensive set of proposals from the State by the opening of these discussions. The quality of these proposals will be a measure of the sense of urgency and general preparedness of the HSE and Department of Health."