A slowdown in the growth of consultant posts could “critically undermine” efforts to reach the target of 6,000 consultants by 2030, according to internal reports presented by the HSE Chief Clinical Officer (CCO). Just 100 consultant posts were funded in the HSE National Service Plan 2024, stated a report by CCO Dr Colm Henry to the HSE safety and quality committee on 15 February. The NCHD taskforce’s final report, approved by the Minister for Health and published on 7 February, recommended increasing consultant posts to 6,000 with a target ratio of 110 consultants per 100,000 population. According to the Medical Workforce Analysis Report 2023-2024, consultants per 100,000 people ranged from 76 in HSE West and Northwest to 52 in HSE Midwest. A substantial proportion of the required training posts could be created through conversion of non-training posts, which numbered 3,885 (2,275 registrar posts and 1,610 SHO posts).

Source: Irish Independent July 23, 2024 02:03 UTC