The new consultant contract will lead to a “gradual change, not a big bang”, the IHCA President Prof Robert Landers has told this newspaper.
The Department of Health confirmed to the Medical Independent (MI) that the new contract will be introduced “in the coming weeks”.
Prof Landers, speaking to MI at the National Health Summit in Croke Park on 8 February, said: “We are undertaking a consultation feedback process [with IHCA members] and then we are providing our feedback to the Department looking for minor modifications within that contract.”
“We’ll have that process finished, I hope, by the end of the month. Then we will be in a position to either endorse it or to give a neutral recommendation of the contract formally.”
Prof Landers added: “I think a lot of younger consultants will take it up and some older consultants who are perhaps a few years out from retirement might take it up.”
“But some existing consultants in the middle may look at it and say, ‘there is no huge benefit to me in taking it up from a purely individual perspective.’ But in terms of take-up, it will progress over time as more new consultants come into the system.”
Speaking at the Summit earlier in the day, Prof Landers stated: “From our perspective it’s not a perfect contract, from the Department of Health’s perspective it’s not perfect; but it is a decent compromise.”
The IMO has also been in contact with the Department about a “range of clarifications” regarding the contract.
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