Concern over consultant locums not on Register

Written by Paul Mulholland Wednesday, 24 June 2009 00:00

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The HSE has played down concerns about medical practitioners who are not on the specialist register taking up locum consultant appointments of over three months duration.

Recently, the Medical Council stated that doctors not on the specialist register should not be in locum consultant posts over this time period.

“Entry in the specialist division is the most reliable indication of a doctor’s suitability to practise at a consultant grade,” according to Medical Council President Prof Kieran Murphy.

“Registered medical practitioners who are registered in the general division or the specialist division of the Register are able to fill locum posts.

However, the Council has expressed particular concern about any medical practitioner who is not in the specialist division taking up a locum consultant appointment of more than three months’ duration. Trainees should not fill locum consultant appointments of more than three months’ duration.”

However, in response to a query by IMN, the HSE said that it requires all consultant appointees – locum, temporary or permanent – to be on the specialist division.

These qualifications have applied to all posts approved by the HSE since the formation of the new General Register on March 16, 2009.

The HSE admitted that there may be some posts in the system where the appointee commenced work before that date, but if they were to be employed for less than a month they would not require registration on the specialist division.

In addition, the Executive stated that the Medical Council’s guidelines regarding appointments of less than three months in duration are “superseded by the qualifications specified by the HSE for consultant posts, which are more robust.”

The HSE was unable to tell IMN how many locums not on the specialist register are in consultant posts for over three months.

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