THE HEALTH SERVICE EXECUTIVE was forced to re-advertise almost a fifth of its consultant vacancies last year – while at the same time struggling to find applicants for junior doctor posts in the south-east region.
Data obtained by the Medical Independent newspaper reveals that of the 116 consultant positions advertised across the country last year, a second round of advertising was required in 19 cases.
The 19 cases include 12 vacancies in the HSE West region, which covers all of Connacht, Donegal, Limerick, Clare and north Tipperary.
Eight positions at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Limerick had to be readvertised, while a further four positions in Sligo General Hospital required two rounds of advertising to be filled.
A separate report in the Medical Independent outlines that applications for ‘junior doctor’ positions in the HSE’s South-East region last year were down 70 per cent compared to three years previous.
A medical manpower report prepared by St Luke’s Hospital in Kilkenny, and including figures from hospitals in Wexford, Waterford and South Tipperary, said there had been “a very low number of applications” for last July’s intake of non-consultant, ‘junior’ hospital doctors.
It said it would be able to fill the positions, however, as a result of recruitment drives being undertaken by the HSE in India and Pakistan.
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