111 consultants not on specialist register

There were 111 consultants employed by the HSE who were not on the Medical Council’s specialist register as of August, according to figures collated for this newspaper by the Executive.

The overall figure is an increase on the 105 consultants not on the specialist register in October 2021, when last reported by the Medical Independent (MI).

As of 23 August, South/South West Hospital Group had the highest number at 25; Saolta University Health Care Group had 24; RCSI Hospital Group 11; Ireland East Hospital Group 10; and Dublin Midlands Hospital Group had nine.

The remaining Hospital Groups and Community Healthcare Organisations had fewer than six each.

At the launch of the recent IHCA pre-Budget submission, former Association President Prof Alan Irvine raised concerns over the number of consultants employed by the HSE who are not on the specialist register.

In April 2021, the HSE’s people and culture committee discussed how the issue of the number of consultants employed who were not on the specialist register was “very serious”.

“This data is extracted from DIME (doctors integrated management e-system) as of 23 August 2022,” the HSE’s spokesperson told MI.

“DIME is dependent on clinical sites inputting details on their consultant workforce and therefore there may be variances and gaps in the data supplied to that held within clinical sites.

“As DIME is a live system, it must be noted that there can be variances in the figures published dependent on the run date of the report, as entries can be made with a retrospective date.”