The Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) has signalled it does not believe the salary scales set out for a new contract for hospital consultants are fair or sufficient. Martin Wall, Industry Correspondent, reports.
It is understood that at a meeting yesterday, the IMO told the independent chairman of the contract negotiations, Mark Connaughton, it did not believe that the pay on offer would be attractive enough to encourage doctors to opt for a proposed new "public-only" contract, in particular.
Under a deal reached between health service management and the Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) on Thursday, senior doctors will be paid between €175,000 and €240,000.
However, sources said the IMO maintained that these new salaries were not a fair reflection of the magnitude of work practice changes involved.
As part of the new deal consultants will have to work a longer week and be rostered for duty earlier in the morning and later in the evening. Some doctors will also have to work at weekends, although they will receive overtime payments for this.
The IMO was not present at the talks earlier this week when a deal was reached between management and the IHCA on pay.
The Irish Times understands that the IMO had submitted proposals on Thursday for salaries of up to €260,000. The IMO will now await an official response from management to its concerns.
However, the Government and the Health Service Executive (HSE) are determined they will not enter into further substantive negotiations with the IMO on the terms of the proposed contract.
They fear that any talks with the IMO, particularly on pay, could effectively unpick the agreement with the IHCA.
The IMO meeting with Mr Connaughton yesterday lasted for 2½ hours and further talks are planned next week.
In a statement, the IMO said that "a comprehensive range of issues were discussed and it is clear that much detail needs to be worked on at this stage".
Sources said that some IMO figures expressed surprise at the absence of written documents setting out the deal reached on Thursday and maintained that many gaps remained to be filled.
In addition to pay, the IMO is also understood to have concerns over the impact of the deal on retired consultants and the standards of training to be required for new doctors recruited.
It is expected that the IMO's consultant committee and negotiating team will meet to consider its options when a full document on the deal is produced by Mr Connaughton, probably early next week.
Management sources said that while it would have no difficulty in providing clarification on the deal, there was a world of difference between clarification and variations of the agreement.
The chief executive of the HSE, Prof Brendan Drumm, said yesterday he did not think the agreement with the IHCA could be reopened.
He said a huge amount of intense work had been put into the process by many people over recent months and that any move to open negotiations again would "run the risk of everybody re-adjusting their position".
If management refuses to negotiate on the deal, the IMO's options would appear limited. It could recommend a rejection of the deal.
If sufficient existing consultants opted to retain their current contracts, it could pose problems for management in seeking to introduce more flexible arrangements in hospitals.
It could also urge its non-consultant members not to apply for the posts. However, in such an event the Government would more than likely find sufficient doctors elsewhere.