60 New Consultants For High-Performing Hospitals

The Health Service Executive has announced that it is to appoint 60 new consultants to hospitals that have high-performing accident and emergency departments.

A year ago the HSE announced a reward scheme under which 100 new consultants would be appointed to hospitals that met targets in their accident and emergency departments.

Details will be given today on how 60 of those consultants will be appointed to 24 hospitals.

The main specialties where consultants will be appointed are: emergency medicine, radiology, general medicine, surgery and geriatrics. 12 of the new posts are in emergency medicine.

The main beneficiary under the scheme is the Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Limerick, which will get ten new consultants; two of these will also support Ennis and Nenagh General.

Waterford Regional Hospital will get five posts. In Dublin, St James’s and St Vincent’s Hospitals have been allocated six new consultants each.

University College Hospital Galway is set to get four new consultants.

The appointments are not likely to be made for some time, as talks on a new contract for consultants have not concluded.