IMO President calls for urgent action to address recruitment and retention crisis amongst doctors and calls on Government to develop a sustainable workforce plan

Thursday 1^st September 2022.  The Medical Workforce Intelligence Report (MWIR) from the Irish Medical Council provides stark evidence of the risks to health and safety for both patients and doctors arising from the ongoing recruitment and retention crisis in the Irish health services. 

Speaking today, IMO President, Dr. Clive Kilgallen, said that the report validates what the IMO has been saying for many years now and must be a wake-up call for Government.  The impact of the manpower crisis and the risks it now poses to Irish patients and to doctors requires urgent attention. 

Dr. Kilgallen said, “This intelligence report gives clear and unambiguous warnings that patient and doctor health is now in danger because of the gap between the number of doctors needed and the numbers available.  We have been warning Government for a long time about the crisis in the medical workforce which has been driven by a failure of successive Governments to adequately plan and introduce policies that will keep doctors within our services. Government must now develop a viable and resourced workforce management plan that deals with the gaps across our services, in our hospitals, mental health and community services and in General Practice.”

The report highlights the extraordinary challenge we are facing to recruit the number of doctors we require (a projected need for 42% increase in number of consultants, a 38% increase in the number of trainees and a potential 42% increase in the number of GPs).

Dr. Kilgallen said that the stark warning from the Medical Council on the number of doctors registered on the General Division (35% of all doctors) while consultant/specialists posts are not being adequately presents “an unacceptable risk to patient safety.  This Report confirms what every doctor is experiencing in their daily working life, onerous and unsafe hours, teams that are stretched beyond capacity while we struggle to deliver safe and timely care.  This reality is in our hospitals, in our GP practices, in our mental health services and in our community services and is simply unacceptable for patients and doctors.”

The Intelligence Report confirms the IMO findings in terms of the unsafe and illegal working hours of our NCHDs who are routinely working hours in excess of 48 hours a week putting both patients and themselves at risk. 

Dr Kilgallen said “it is past time for aspirational talk from Government, we have known about this problem for years, successive reports from the IMO, the Medical Council and indeed reports commissioned by Government themselves have highlighted the problems.  We know the solutions, but it is up to Government to act.  ”

Finally Dr Kilgallen said that the figures confirmed the crisis amongst NCHDs in particular; “it is no wonder that 97% of NCHDs have voted for industrial action up to and including strike action in support of the IMO #Standingup4NCHDs campaign. ”