GP slams 'immoral' consultant pay

[Posted: Fri 04/03/2011 by Niall Hunter, Editor www.irishhealth.com]

A well-known GP has slammed the level of hospital consultant earnings in Ireland and has proposed that no consultant should earn more than €100,000 per annum.

Co.Kildare GP Dr Brendan O'Shea urged the next Minister for Health, expected to be Dr James Reilly, to do something about the 'kleprocratic process of specialist pay.'

Dr Reilly, during the election campaign, said under Fine Gael, consultants could no longer expect to earn €180,000 for their public work plus €300,000 on top of that from private insurance company payments under Fine Gael, as this was no longer sustainable.

Dr O'Shea, writing in Irish Medical News, said consultant pay is to healthcare what Anglo Irish is to the banking sector.

"It is corruptive to the specialists and deeply repugnant to public patients, other healthcare professionals, and is often alarming to right-minded and thinking private patients."

Dr O'Shea said in an economy such as ours, it is immoral and perverse that anyone should stand to profit from the misery and suffering of their fellow citizens to the extent that the Irish specialist establishment does.

He said he believed a majority of consultants, who are serious, hard-working and right-minded, would not disagree with the next Minister for Health taking immediate and purposeful action on the pay issue.

Dr O'Shea proposed that over a three-year period, consultant pay should be benched to €100,000 per annum for a 45-hour week.

"Any who do take issue may move to the US, or any other jurisdiction prepared to tolerate the moral turpitude inherent in an orthopaedic consultant trousering €500,000 per annum while entertaining their public patients on a six-month waiting list for basic and essential treatments."

Dr O'Shea said our health system "cheats, injures, denigrates and misleads public patients," and added that public patients here were "dying of indifference and incompetence" while private patients were being "farmed and over-treated by rapacious for-profit private healthcare businesses."

He said in many other countries, the public health system was felt by citizens to be largely and significantly better than the private system.

Dr O'Shea said nobody should be allowed to be the CEO of any hospital, institution or office in healthcare with a budget of €10 million or more without holding an MBA or equivalent.

See also 'Time to rein in doctors' pay'

anony  Posted: 04/03/2011 19:47

Tell me about it. I had a condition which needed urgent treatment but to get that I was asked to pay €250. That was followed by nine further appointments each costing €200. When I thought I was finished my consultant stated that he would like me to see a friend of his to ensure that no damage had been done by the treatment to another part of my anatomy. I went to that appointment and it cost me €200 for 20 minutes chat about my condition. He also had a friend who carried out a test which Consultant No2 would like to see done. That followed the following week - it cost €250. Then back to No 2 (another 200) and then back to No 1 (another 200) to be told - fine but we will rerun these tests in 6 months just to be sure. I have submitted by receipts to my health insurance but not sure if I am going to get refunded. I would love to be a friend of any of these.

highlander  Posted: 05/03/2011 10:56

I was recently referred to  a consultant cardiologist who works in a local public hospital, as a private patient. I was informed by letter that I would be required to pay his consultation fee in advance, along with supplying my medical insurance details in order to get onto his private waiting list. Despite having been told that investigations needed to be carried out 'soon' by my GP it appears that there is still a waiting list of at least 4 weeks and the stress and worry of waiting, albeit a relatively short time compared to anyone on the Public list is exacerbating my condition. I think it scandalous that these consultants demand payment days or in this case weeks before they even see a patient. I have never had any issue with paying for treatment at the time of consultation, surely, there should be a mutual level of trust and respect between doctor and patient in this 'Caring' profession?

Anonymous  Posted: 07/03/2011 15:07

Disgraceful.

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