Madam, - High-quality public health services are essential in any country. Public health doctors, including those from Ireland, are highly valued internationally for their expertise in promoting and protecting the public health and tacking the causes of ill health and health inequalities.
They are responsible for protecting people from the potentially devastating consequences of serious communicable diseases and environmental hazards. It was to public health doctors that the world turned to for help when the SARS virus hit Asia and beyond. The hospital clinician, trained to consultant level, is responsible for managing individual cases of infection, while the public health physician, also trained to consultant level, is responsible for identifying the source of infection and preventing its spread through entire populations.
Our recent experiences with preparing contingency plans to deal with potential acts of bioterrorism and cases of SARS highlight the essential nature of effective and rapidly responsive public health services and, in particular, communicable disease control arrangements. These must be provided 24 hours a day and seven days a week to guarantee an urgent response to emergencies, including cases of common infectious diseases such as meningitis and food poisoning.
The absence of such a system in the Republic of Ireland is a cause of concern, given the potential for cross-border spread of infection.
Specialist training for public health medicine is the same north and south of the border, and throughout the UK, with all public health doctors being trained to consultant level. In Northern Ireland we are appointed as consultants and have parity of esteem and terms and conditions with our hospital consultant colleagues. We are fortunate to have a well developed public health medicine infrastructure, including directors of public health, consultants in public health medicine and doctors in training. This enables us to provide a continuous service in a similar manner to other clinical specialities.
We have always enjoyed excellent working relationships with all our public health colleagues in in the Republic of Ireland and have the deepest respect for their work. We hope the current industrial dispute can be urgently resolved to ensure Ireland can have once again have access to a high calibre public health medicine service. - Yours, etc.,
Dr LORRAINE DOHERTY, MB, MPH, MSPHM,
On behalf of Northern Ireland Consultants in Public Health Medicine; Northern Ireland Specialist Registrars in Public Health Medicine; Cranmore Park Belfast.