#DELPHI 2 DUBLIN PROFESSIONAL#

10 There has been a breakdown in talks between the consultantsвЂ™ main representative association, the Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) and the employer, which has contributed to a lack of trust. Resource shortages and their undermining of improved patient care programmes have contributed to low morale. 9Дoctors are instrumental in delivering quality patient care. 8 This, when added to the stringent public service austerity measures of overall salary reductions and employment embargoes, has ensured that employment conditions for doctors are no longer attractive and has contributed to a national shortage at a time of a growing and ageing population and a greater burden of chronic diseases. 7 Many senior posts are vacant or are filled on a temporary basis impacting on the quality of patient care. 5 Levels of distrust of the employer are high 6 and recruitment and retention of consultants has been challenged by a 30% pay reduction for new consultants introduced in October 2012. 4 Many of the graduates of Irish medical schools fail to return for higher specialist training here, despite having earlier indicated their aspiration to do so. A recent review of basic specialist training (BST) in Ireland notes that the tensions between training requirements and service demands have contributed to the reported вЂbrain drainвЂ™ of young doctors, with over half leaving to work abroad after graduation. There is evidence that hospital posts have become less attractive to both trainees and consultants.

#DELPHI 2 DUBLIN PROFESSIONAL#

A new offence of poor professional performance has been introduced and the Medical Council now has a lay majority. Fitness to practice hearings are now held in public risking reputational damage even when no findings are made. 3 This set out to enhance patient safety and professional accountability and it fundamentally altered how doctors would be treated by the regulator. 2 It is likely that unique local factors are also having an impact, not least of which was the implementation of the Medical Practitioners Act. 1 Practice changes resulting in increased accountability, growing bureaucracy and the use of standardised evidence-based treatments which improve patient outcomes but erode physician autonomy are global phenomena. The working environment for hospital doctors in Ireland has undergone radical change in recent years.

Delphi 2 dublin