The death of Dr Waqar Ali Shah is a matter of sorrow for every health professional in Ireland. The IMO extends our deepest sympathy to Dr Shah’s family and colleagues.This tragedy reminds us of the risks faced & sacrifices made by health professionals in the fight against COVID19
Thank you to all doctors and other front line health staff making it to work today so patients can be cared for in GP surgeries and Hospitals. Normal services are disrupted due to weather so please respect the nature of Emergency and GP Out of Hours services.
#StormEmma
931 patients waiting on a bed in our EDs. All have been assessed and require admission. Inhumane conditions for patients and staff. The core problem is capacity, in the past decade successive Governments have failed to increase capacity to meet the needs of a growing population.
What dedication! Amazing GP couple
@greyhaireddoc
and
@ShinnersCro
were due to marry today but postponed the big day so they could vaccinate our most vulnerable.
The vaccine roll out continues. Dr
@DrMartinDaly
running a vaccine clinic for Over 85s just 4 days after a fire destroyed his surgery. New clinic set up within 24 hours thanks to the dedication of the GP Practice Team, local community in Ballygar and
@HSELive
Doctors across hospitals and GP services have, yet again, been asked to step up to deal with a crisis that was entirely predictable and caused by over a decade of insufficient investment in capacity & staffing to meet the needs of our population.
Thank you to
@ronan_glynn
& our Public Health Specialists for leading us through this crisis. They don’t always give us good news but NPHET give us evidence based recommendations.
Some facts about NCHDs and Training - thread..
1 All doctors complete an undergraduate medical degree which takes 4-6 years, paying same costs as all other college students. They are then qualified as a Doctor.
This is WRONG on so many levels. NCHDs already work unsafe and illegal working hours. No employer has the right to behave in this way. IMO are demanding that this practice cease immediately.
#standingUP4NCHDs
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar's comments this evening are disappointing and unhelpful. What is required and indeed what would be helpful is that the Government would put in place adequate beds and adequate staff.
After a long fight by IMO Public Health Doctor Committee, we're delighted to congratulate Dr Mai Mannix & 5 other Consultants in Public Health Medicine as they begin their new posts. It's a landmark moment for the specialty and the development of public health medicine in Ireland
A new Act allows all NCHDs EU and non EU to compete for training positions. The IMO has been advocating for this for many years and welcomes the legislation and calls for an increase in the number of training positions.
Consultants are working far in excess of “normal” working hours, providing an on call service 24/7 & working weekend shifts. The problem is not the commitment of our medical workforce. The problems are lack of capacity, lack of beds and the chronic shortage in consultant numbers.
Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has said that overcrowding in hospitals could get worse, and that the HSE is to call on senior medical staff, such as consultants, to come in at weekends for the next few weeks to help alleviate the situation
30% of GPs are due to retire in the next five years, one in five Consultant posts are vacant. 3,000 Doctors have left over the past five years to take up positions abroad. We are losing our doctors while demand is increasing.
#Budget2022
Our doctors are already under siege trying to deliver care in an under resourced service. Latest HSE memo on Consultant recruitment and continued failure to pay NCHDs agreed overtime rates will only serve to drive more doctors away to health systems that value and respect them.
Shout out to all NCHDs for Changeover Day and wishing them all the best of luck in their new posts. It’s a huge ask for our NCHDs to move home and disrupt families so often during their training – Time for Change is NOW.
#ChangeoverDay
#TimeForChange
#ValueDoctors
GPs are extremely busy assessing patients with COVID, requesting PCR Tests & dealing with all acute medical calls & giving booster vaccines. Please understand & be patient as GPs prioritise patients who have urgent medical needs & be kind to administration staff who are doing
We are shocked and appalled at HSE plans to implement a recruitment freeze among a wide range of healthcare staff NCHDs. This decision will inevitably impact negatively on patient care.
“Hospitals have operated at dangerous levels of capacity for many years. COVID has exposed the underlying fragility of our services. It's untenable that we continue with historic deficits in manpower & bed capacity in the context of increasing waiting lists.” Dr Anthony O'Connor
20 GP Practice Teams came together today in Cork and vaccinated 360 over 85s. Fantastic day. Huge thanks to
@Eastcorkclinsoc
, GP Practice teams, UCC Med Students and
@HSELive
Almost every hospital and GP surgery is now operating at capacity. The unrelenting pressure on doctors and waiting times for patients must be addressed urgently. We need more doctors, more beds and more healthcare staff. There are no other solutions.
"We cannot leave here today without emphasising the damage that the 2012 30% cut to Consultant salaries has had on the recruitment & retention of specialist staff. If you don't have the specialists to provide the care for patients, buildings are useless" Professor Matthew Sadlier
"Over 600 GPs to retire in the next few years and no supports for young GPs to establish. We're also over 500 Consultants short. We have failed miserably to attract doctors to work here. That is down to the undervaluing of doctors" IMO CEO Ms Susan Clyne at the Oireachtas
IMO launches strong criticism of Government move to boost pay for 3 “Super Juniors” while new Consultants continue to earn 30% less than their colleagues
"Every doctor in the country will, does and has sacrificed time with their loved ones to provide medical care" IMO President Dr Peadar Gilligan on Morning Ireland
In light of the inaction of the Government, we have been left with no choice but to set a 21-day deadline for the receipt of serious proposals to address the Consultant recruitment crisis, or we will proceed to ballot Consultant and NCHD members for industrial action
It’s Changeover Weekend and all over the country NCHDs are moving to another work location. Training rotations which force NCHDs to move every 6 months place enormous financial and emotional burdens on NCHDs and their families. Urgent change is needed
#standingup4NCHDs
All doctors who have finished training should be offered temporary consultant locum posts to help with lack of capacity.
No NCHD should be left without a post in this time of a manpower crisis‘
Full IMO Statement
A big Thank You to the doctors and all healthcare staff who are working over Christmas and New Year. Stay safe and please respect the emergency services and GP out of hours services at this time
#WeAreWorking
Thanks to
@Hselive
@CcoHse
@AmbulanceNAS
- GP and Practice Nurse vaccination clinics today in Dublin, Galway and Portlaoise. 1,800 received first dose of vaccine. Great day for GPs and their teams. Roll on next round of clinics.
Your GP has NO role in the issuing of Digital Covid Certs & cannot issue letters confirming either vaccination or results of COVID tests. GPs are very busy at this time and we ask patients not to call in relation to COVID Certs. For details on Covid Certs
1st Jan 2023 - Our public health services are in an endless cycle of crisis. Too few doctors, too few beds and too few healthcare professionals. We are simply not investing enough in recruiting staff and increasing capacity to meet the needs of patients.
Support our doctors - The IMO has cases pending in the WRC to stop the HSE forcing newly qualified doctors to work for up to 2 weeks free at the very start of their careers. This unjust and indefensible practice must stop now.
August 2022: All health services overwhelmed. Emergency Department wait times increasing, waiting lists at record levels, GPs and out of hours services working beyond capacity. All Doctors working unsafe hours to deliver patient care.
#WhereIsTheWorkforcePlan
?
Story Behind the Headline: NCHDs are working unsafe and illegal hours to prop up a health service that has too few doctors. The practice of excessive working hours must stop. It is unsafe for doctors and patients.
#standingup4nchds
The IMO welcomes the decision to administer COVID Booster Vaccines for healthcare workers. It is critical that our frontline healthcare staff have maximum protection so that they can continue to deliver care to patients.
NCHD Ballot For Industrial Action Commencing 9th May 2022
This fight is for NCHDs, their patients and for the next generation of Doctors
#StandingUp4NCHDs
We would like to thank all doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals caring for patients over Christmas. Please tweet us a picture of you and your colleagues at work using the hashtag
#WeAreWorking
The basis on which free GP care will be introduced for all children under 13 has NOT been agreed between the Government & the IMO and there are serious question marks about the viability of any such policy given the intense pressure already faced by GPs across the country
If you have any COVID19 symptoms self isolate immediately & phone your GP. If you are unwell with any other conditions phone your GP don’t neglect your health. It's critical that patients do not ignore other serious health conditions. Your GP and our EDs remain open to help you.
Big thanks to everyone who took part in IMO
#WeAreWorking
campaign. It was wonderful to showcase the hard work and dedication of doctors, nurses, health professionals,admin and support staff. Caring for patients all day, every day.
Thank you to all of our doctors working in hospitals, general practice, out of hours services and across the health service providing care 24/7 over Christmas.
There is enormous pressure on our health services so please be patient & respect all healthcare staff
Important Message to Patients: Our health services are still open. If you have a hospital or GP appointment please attend. Non COVID care is continuing. Please do not neglect other health issues and contact your GP with any new symptoms or concerns about your health.
The Taoiseach and the Minister for Health must take responsibility for the failures of our health service. Blaming doctors who are struggling to provide patient care without sufficient resources is wrong.
#MoreDoctorsBetterCare
Many NCHDs are forced to work shifts of up to 30 hours long.
IMO NCHD Chair, Dr John Cannon details just what it's like to work for that long in a single stretch.
#standingup4nchds
Proud of our doctors and all healthcare staff for making it in through snow & ice, staying over in hospitals, doing extra shifts, opening GP surgeries, taking calls where surgeries cannot open. Huge effort from all. Stay safe and please use essential services in emergencies only.
GP Practices around the country are very busy. Your details will be taken and you will be called back but please be patient & do not make multiple calls to the surgery. Staff are doing their very best to deal with the surge of calls.
"We need 5,000 beds and 1,600 more specialists in our system to bring us even close to the OECD average and without those we cannot provide the timely care that our patients need" Dr Peadar Gilligan IMO Consultant Committee
Thank you to all of our doctors, nurses, healthcare professionals and support staff in our public health services – you are AMAZING.
Have a Safe and Happy Christmas
The Irish Medical Organisation has warned that hospitals and GPs are facing a traumatic Winter and that the Winter Plan launched today is “inadequate” to meet the challenges we face.
Full Statement:
Very tough for everyone tonight but it’s the right decision. Please dig deep to protect each other and to protect our health services for both covid and non covid patients.
#HoldFirm
After campaigning hard on the issue the IMO welcomes the comments from the Minister for Health & National Director of HR, HSE at our AGM that this year’s Interns will not be required to work for free during their induction. At long last, time to confine this practice to the past
“There are too few, way too much is being asked of them, and there is no respect, absolutely zero respect being shown to them” IMO CEO Ms Susan Clyne speaking about Public Health Doctors at the Oireachtas Health Committee yesterday
#respectPHD
The crisis in our medical workforce has been known for over a decade and we've seen little or no action from successive governments. There is no medical workforce plan, almost 900 vacant consultant posts & no capacity in either hospital or GP settings.
"We will be recommending to our members that if we do not get serious engagement there may be no alternative but to consider industrial action. Allowing the current situation to persist is just not acceptable. It is bad for doctors and bad for patients.”
IMO meeting decided unanimously to proceed to a ballot for industrial action up to and including strike action in support of the campaign to reverse the unilateral salary cuts imposed only on new entrant consultants appointed after October 2012 . Full statement to issue tomorrow
“Ireland talks a great game about céad míle fáilte, the land of a thousand welcomes, but International Doctors who come here are often met with a brick wall and the system keeps them in the box that was built for them”
Dr Gabriel Beecham, IMO NCHD Committee
#StandingUp4NCHDs
10.97% of NCHDs have voted for Industrial Action in an IMO Ballot. We are in talks with Government and HSE to try to find solutions and avert strike but change must happen NOW – no more empty promises, aspirations, reports. We need immediate solutions.
"NCHDs are not prepared to put up with these barriers to the delivery of effective care any longer. The patients of Ireland and our healthcare workers deserve better" Dr Rachel McNamara, IMO NCHD Committee.
#StandingUp4NCHDs
Please protect our health services, follow the new guidelines and stay at home. If you have any COVID symptoms immediately self-isolate and phone your GP.
The HSE and Government are recklessly compromising patient care by today’s announcement that the HSE will further extend the disastrous recruitment freeze announced last month
Full IMO Statement:
IMO Public Health Committee express “shock and demoralisation” at Govt’s continued failure to engage on the issue of extension of Consultant Contracts and increased resources for Public Health.
GP Practices are experiencing very high levels of calls and are dealing with both COVID and non COVID Care. Please be patient and do not make multiple calls.
“We're ready for this. This is what we do every day. When we enter those rooms, they are cleaned from top to tail. We're trained to do this, and we'll keep on doing it. We've got this.”
#coronavirus
Thanks to our cleaners working across Ireland.
#covid19
#FrontLineHeroes
all 👏
We have 500 vacant Consultant posts, increasing waiting lists, NCHDs working in excess of legal hours and the HSE response is a recruitment and overtime ban?
#FightForFairness
Thanks to 2,300+ GPs who attended our webinar on Covid Booster programme. GPs and their teams are beyond exhaustion but they will meet this huge challenge. Please attend your booster appointment and be kind to GP Teams as non-urgent care may be delayed.
#Getyourbooster
Our Public Health Specialists are Ireland’s front line defence against COVID. For too long their expertise has not been recognised with consultant status. We hope that tomorrow when we meet with the DoH there will be constructive proposals on addressing this as a priority.
‘Hugely concerning’ recruitment trend sees doctor shortages across the health services
‘The pandemic did not cause the crisis in our healthcare system, but it has deepened it’
Statement: