Sir, – To discuss consultant recruitment issues and fail to mention that new entrants receive 30 per cent less pay than senior colleagues for doing the same work is remarkable (Health, April 11th). Since this acknowledged policy failure in 2012, the number of vacant consultant posts has risen from fewer than 200 to 837 at present.
The Minister for Health has stated in the past that he is “unambiguously committed” to reversing this massive disparity, which disproportionately affects female specialists, younger consultants, and doctors trained outside Ireland.
The conditions of the proposed Sláintecare contract were clearly unacceptable to most medics, who do not trust that the HSE will deliver on their terms and reject additional restrictions to their working practices. The Government must reverse this disparity to stem the tide of medics choosing the private sector or opportunities overseas in favour of a system that objectively values them less than their senior colleagues. – Yours, etc,
STEVEN MALONEY,
Dublin 6.