Madam, - I refer to your Editorial of February 19th which was critical of the decision of the Irish Hospital Consultants Association to curtail services in reaction to the extraordinary position that had arisen following the introduction of the state-sponsored Clinical Indemnity Scheme by the Minister for Health and Children, Mr Martin.
Since its foundation 14 years ago, the IHCA has had a policy of not taking action which would disrupt patient care. Therefore it was with the greatest of reluctance and regret that consultants embarked on industrial action. Indeed this unprecedented action underlined the extent of the calamitous vista that faced almost 50 per cent of our membership, with a potential exposure to multi-million euro legal claims going back almost a quarter of a century.
Thankfully, since our decision to embark on industrial action, the Department of Health and the Medical Defence Union have had more meetings in the past two weeks than they had during all of 2003 to seek to resolve this issue. There is little doubt that the belated application of urgency and determination required to resolve the problem of historic liabilities was a direct result of the IHCA's enforced industrial action.
We were assured by the Minister for Health at a meeting on Tuesday last (February 17th) that significant progress had been made in negotiations with the MDU and that a further four weeks was required to bring the issue to finality. He requested that we defer our industrial action and an emergency meeting of the National Council acceded to his request.
Incidentally, your Editorial claimed that the new state scheme gives some hope of turning the tide of litigiousness and legal costs is doubtful.
The frequency of claims in all sectors of society will only be curtailed through tort reform, and through the development of a book of quantum which will bring court awards in Ireland into line with those with the rest of Europe.
It is also incorrect to state that a resolution to the problem of historic liabilities might be obtained by resorting to the social partnership mechanisms.
It is quite clear that a solution can only be found in direct negotiations between the Department of Health and the Medical Defence Union.
Finally, your statement that the IHCA threatened to withdraw "from all non-emergency treatment" is also inaccurate.
Our public statements made clear that urgent treatment and continuing care would also have been provided, and full services would also be available to patients whose medical condition may have been time-sensitive. - Yours, etc.,
FINBARR FITZPATRICK, Secretary General, Irish Hospital Consultants Association, Heritage House, Dundrum Office Park, Dublin 14.