Madam, - The current dispute involving public health doctors will have profound long-term effects on recruiting, training and retaining professionals in this area.
One of the reasons that these doctors have had to endure a nine-year delay and now weeks of frustration at the picket-line is that most of their valuable work is preventive and is hidden from the public eye. This is the main aspect of public health medicine, which the employers are exploiting to exert pressure by not entering into any meaningful negotiations.
This attitude of ignoring the obvious, with no regard for long-term effects, has already led to many scandals in the healthcare system, including that of contaminated blood products. The consequences of ignoring the valuable work done by these dedicated doctors could become very obvious in near future when many may decide to leave for other specialities.
Very few medical graduates take up public health medicine and this dispute has put off many would-be trainees. If the employers continue to ignore this important area, the nation's health is at immediate risk, but so also is the long-term future of such an important preventive profession.
Perhaps the meaning of the phrase, "Prevention is better than cure" is not really understood by those elected and appointed to look after the health of the nation. - Yours, etc.,
ASAM ISHTIAQ, Chairperson, Non-Consultant Hospital Doctor's Committee, Irish Medical Organisation, Fitzwilliam Place, Dublin 2.