Non-consultant hospital doctors, some of whom have been working 130 hours a week to keep wards open during the nurses' strike, will demand Government recognition of their efforts when negotiations on new contracts begin next month.
The chairman of the Irish Medical Organisation's hospital doctors' committee, Dr Mick Molloy, said his members had done everything that was asked of them during the strike to care for patients.
As part of the negotiations, which are due to begin in a fortnight, the doctors will be seeking improved training provisions, and an assurance from the Department of Health of a contingency plan in the event of a similar dispute in the future.
"The threat of strike has been there for months, yet there was no contingency plan and it fell to the doctors to fill every deficiency in the system," Dr Molloy said.
In addition to performing their medical duties, doctors have been required to carry out a range of non-medical duties, such as answering phones. These duties added to the strain which the dispute put on doctors, he said, yet they could have been done by non-medical staff.
The problems were added to in some cases by the absence of hospital managers at certain times of the day, he said.
The long working hours were worst for doctors at the Coombe and hospitals with smaller medical staffs.
Some doctors worked from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m., before going home for the night and then starting the cycle over again.
"This has placed a huge personal strain on doctors, particularly female doctors who have difficulty with childcare because they cannot tell their child-minder or creche when they will collect their child," Dr Molloy said.
However, they would not contemplate not co-operating fully, despite the conditions. "Our members will do the work that is required. They will not leave patients who are in need," Dr Molloy said.