The threatened strike by hospital consultants has been condemned as "unbelievably irresponsible" by the Irish Patients Association.
Its chairman Mr Stephen McMahon yesterday said people in essential services should not strike. Patients were the ones who would suffer if the strike went ahead as planned on March 14th. Up to 50,000 outpatient and elective surgery appointments will be cancelled every week if the industrial action proceeds. Emergency cover only will be provided.
Patients, Mr McMahon said, should not be used as pawns in any industrial relations dispute.
Consultants in both public and private hospitals will strike unless a solution can be found to the long-running dispute over the withdrawal of insurance cover for a number of consultants who are being sued for alleged negligence in the past.
The cover has been withdrawn by the British-based Medical Defence Union (MDU) which says it cannot afford to meet all claims. It says the Department of Health precipitated the crisis by introducing a new State indemnity scheme for doctors a year ago, cutting off annual insurance subscriptions from Irish doctors.
The MDU also claims it can exercise discretion on whom it wishes to cover in the event of claims being made. The State is now likely to join the consultants representative bodies in challenging this in court.
To date the MDU has refused to assist 25 Irish consultants who are being sued. One of these is due in the High Court in Dublin today where he is being pursued by the former North Western Health Board for half of a €4 million plus award made against it in a cerebral palsy case last year.
The Tánaiste and Minister for Health, Ms Harney, has said she cannot understand why consultants are intent on industrial action given that she has said no doctor will be left uncovered if sued. However, the Irish Hospital Consultants Association says her guarantee is not legally binding. They say a health board would not now be suing a consultant for damages if her guarantee stood up.
Meanwhile, Labour's health spokeswoman Ms Liz McManus called on the Tánaiste yesterday to make every effort to resolve the issue of historic liabilities with the MDU, which pulled out of talks with the Department of Health last week, just days before its books were about to be examined by Irish officials to see what its resources were.
The MDU said yesterday it believed its historic liabilities in Ireland are €70 million. The Department of Health claims the figure is closer to €400 million.