The government has approved a proposal for a new public-only hospital consultant contract, which would see public consultants paid up to €252,000 per annum.

The news comes following extensive negotiations between the Department of Health, the HSE, the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) and the Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA).

According to the Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, “the introduction of this new contract will be a landmark in delivering universal healthcare”.

He described the new contract as “fair and progressive”, which “puts the interests of patients to the fore”.

He acknowledged that despite the recruitment of over 16,000 healthcare staff over the last two years, including 1,750 doctors and dentists, “our ratio of consultants to population in Ireland has historically been far too low”.

Currently, 3,800 consultants are employed in the public system.

The new Sláintecare contract will include:

-Basic pay of €209,915 - €252,150 on a six-point scale

-A 37-hour week with an 8am to 10pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 6pm Saturday

-Consultants will continue to receive additional remuneration for on-call duties and overtime as applicable

-Flexibility that enables consultants to opt for a variety of different work patterns including less than whole time, work sharing and compressed hours. Flexible start and finish times will be available to the greatest extent possible

-Support for consultants to participate in medical education training and research

-Consultants will be free, having met their commitment to their public contract, to engage in off-site private practice, in the same way as is allowed in the NHS.

“This new contract will ensure that care will be provided when patients need it most. Consultant decision making on-site results in reduced emergency admissions, shorter lengths of stay and more complete care plans for discharge,” Minister Donnelly said.

He insisted that this new contract will not result in an increase in working hours for consultants “but instead will focus on ensuring that these senior decision makers are present and delivering patient care when demand is highest”.

“This will enable the health service to maintain efficient and timely patient flow out-of-hours and at weekends, enhance senior decision-maker presence on-site and reduce waiting times by maximising capacity in our hospitals. This new contract will allow a transition away from the provision of private care in public hospitals and ensure state resources are provided in accordance with need rather than ability to pay,” he commented.

Minister Donnelly insisted that this new contract “compares very favourably” with contracts in other healthcare services worldwide.

The various bodies representing consultants will now consider the proposals through their respective processes.