For every one hospital consultant there are seven administrators working in the health services, the president of the Irish Hospital Consultants Association, Dr David Lillis, said in his address to the association's a.g.m. Dr Lillis said he wanted to highlight the increasing bureaucracy of the health services.
One economist with an interest in this subject, said Dr Lillis, had said the number of administrators and management staff in the health services had increased by 32 per cent in the period 1980 to 1993. In the same period, the numbers of medical and dental staff had actually fallen.
"Apart from begging the question as to who actually cares for the patients, the signal of increasing workload, with worsening conditions and terms of employment for hospital consultants, is very clear," said Dr Lillis.
He revealed that the IHCA was to commission a study among their members which would aim to identify the effects of stress on health, mortality and the family life of consultants.
"Whatever the study turns up, we will seek appropriate action in your interests," he told the consultants.
Rest days, paid time off after being on call, and increasing bureaucracy were identified by Dr Lillis as contributing factors to the stress experienced on a daily basis by hospital consultants.
"This is an opportune time to put the Government on notice. Our association is committed to a constructive working relationship with the Government and the health authorities. But there is a range of issues on which it is time for us, as hospital consultants, to draw a line in the sand," he said.
The IHCA would support compulsory screening of at-risk health care workers to check their vaccination status, he continued. "Such a measure would eliminate the rare risk to Irish patients."
But measures were called for which would also protect hospital consultants from infected patients, he added.
He said the association feared that if reporting of child abuse were made mandatory it would "drive aspects of the problems of child abuse underground".