THE HEALTH MINISTER has said the new Sláintecare Consultant Contract will “reduce waiting times” and “maximise capacity in hospitals”.

The Government today approved a proposal by Minister Stephen Donnelly for a new public-only hospital consultant contract, alongside the recruitment of an additional 1,000 consultant.

The new Sláintecare contract offers a salary ranging from €209,915 to €252,150 for a 37-hour week in which consultants can be rostered between 8am to 10pm, Monday to Friday, and also from 8am to 6pm on Saturday.

Meanwhile, consultants will continue to receive additional remuneration for on-call duties and overtime.

The Department said the “highly flexible contract” allows for a “variety of different work patterns”.

The Department of Health added: “Consultants will be free, having met their commitment to their public contract, to engage in off-site private practice, in the same way as allowed in the NHS.”

Its introduction follows extensive talks between the Department of Health, the HSE, the Irish Medical Organisation, and the Irish Hospital Consultants Association.

Minister Donnelly said the new contract “will be a landmark in delivering Universal Healthcare”.

Donnelly also labelled it “a fair, progressive contract that puts the interests of patients to the fore”.

Today's a good day for patients and our public health service. Government has approved a landmark new public-only hospital consultant contract. Also approved progressing elective hospitals for #Cork and #Galway and 'surgical hubs' for #Waterford #Limerick Dublin, Cork & Galway pic.twitter.com/fpgfxvflCK

— Stephen Donnelly (@DonnellyStephen) December 7, 2022

It’s been a priority of the government to provide more consultant delivered public health care.

While Ireland employs 3,800 consultants in the public system, an increase of 1,300 over the last 10 years, Minister Donnelly said “our ratio of consultants to population in Ireland has historically been far too low”.

As a result, the Health Minister said there is a “need to make consultant posts attractive to fill as many as possible on a permanent basis”.

He added that the new consultant contract is a “significant step forward” in this regard and that it “compares very favourably with other health services around the world”.

“We want to continue to build our consultant numbers to provide a better-quality service for patients, and to improve the work life balance of consultants.

“Consultant decision-making on-site results in reduced emergency admissions, shorter lengths of stay and more complete care plans for discharge.

“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.”