We should all be going on strike to force this shit show of a government out. Same with young teachers, same with young nurses. Funny how all young people in Ireland are constantly fucked over by the government. Being paid less for doing the exact same job simply because you are younger.
Fair enough, young doctors are often treated like slaves by senior staff.
All the management and structural failings of the HSE are propped up by the medical staff. Conditions are insane and for some reason it’s just accepted as “well that’s what it is being a doctor”. Long hours, little to no support for juniors, no availability on diagnostic equipment, junior doctors get shuttled around the country because they can’t keep staff in rural hospitals. Your career progression is entirely dependent on your lead consultant so you either do what you’re told or you languish. My SO is a junior doctor and you couldn’t pay me enough to put up with what she deals with.
They are treated like shit
There’s an obvious problem in that doctors have always been a minority in the HSE/wider health system.
At a simple (even simplistic) level, the health system should be run for the benefit of doctors so that they can see the most patients in the most efficient manner. (And other associated disciplines.)
Unfortunately, a lot of the “stakeholders” in the HSE would lose out from such a system.
Thus we have a system where doctors can’t hope to work a 40 hour week, can’t hope to have normal lives, etc.
100% of NCHDs are working overtime.
54% are not getting paid for their overtime.
An 80 hour week is common.
40% are working shifts over 24 hours long.
75% aren’t getting their breaks.
The HSE are putting the public in danger with these working conditions. They’re putting staff at risk. Hopefully industrial action won’t be necessary, but if it is, the public need to understand the legitimacy of the concerns leading to it.
These are figures from the IMO based on the current working conditions.
NCHD – non-consultant hospital doctor
[deleted]
*Non-consultant doctors
They should, even a health crisis wasn’t enough for them to do anything about it.
All they did there was run an experiment with delivering vaccines to the richest ahead of everyone else and they got away with it. Oh and they of course delivered claps and well wishes to the workers.
What is the matter with our health service.
Like ffs, even during a pandemic we won’t give the staff their dues.
They need to cut out the layers upon layers of middle management bureaucracy that achieve nothing but jobs for the boys and girls and start listening to the people who actually run the thing.
I’m working a 77 hour week this week and I’ve spent the last three weeks covering gaps from other NCHDs who got sick with covid. The HSE has shown not a single iota of interest in helping us with the immense burden placed on us by both themselves and the pandemic. They’re perfectly content to let you be seen by exhausted, overworked doctors who can’t give you as much time as you deserve, because it makes no difference to them. We don’t want you waiting two years for a clinic or 16 hours in A&E, but the HSE doesn’t listen to us. All we want is what we’re legally entitled to, which is legal working hours and correct pay. I don’t even want more pay, I just want to be paid correctly without having to fight for it every fortnight. I don’t want no overtime, I just want to not be working 50+ hours every single week for eternity.
Off to Oz. Sad.
There is no solution to this than a complete and total reform of the health service, which is political suicide as every union that touches the health service will be up in arms. It needs someone with balls of steel to just dump the whole thing and start again, breaking down every structure and process and rebuilding from scratch.
Political suicide.
Someone else made the same point in a slightly different way when explaining why the Australian system is better.
We are part of the problem.
And our employers.
Countries with better health care systems are better because they pay a fortune for healthcare obligatory private insurance.
It’s an absolute fortune extra. When I worked abroad I was paying about €400 a month in obligatory insurance and my employer was paying €800.
The health system was amazing. But because we paid for it.
14 comments
We should all be going on strike to force this shit show of a government out. Same with young teachers, same with young nurses. Funny how all young people in Ireland are constantly fucked over by the government. Being paid less for doing the exact same job simply because you are younger.
Fair enough, young doctors are often treated like slaves by senior staff.
All the management and structural failings of the HSE are propped up by the medical staff. Conditions are insane and for some reason it’s just accepted as “well that’s what it is being a doctor”. Long hours, little to no support for juniors, no availability on diagnostic equipment, junior doctors get shuttled around the country because they can’t keep staff in rural hospitals. Your career progression is entirely dependent on your lead consultant so you either do what you’re told or you languish. My SO is a junior doctor and you couldn’t pay me enough to put up with what she deals with.
They are treated like shit
There’s an obvious problem in that doctors have always been a minority in the HSE/wider health system.
At a simple (even simplistic) level, the health system should be run for the benefit of doctors so that they can see the most patients in the most efficient manner. (And other associated disciplines.)
Unfortunately, a lot of the “stakeholders” in the HSE would lose out from such a system.
Thus we have a system where doctors can’t hope to work a 40 hour week, can’t hope to have normal lives, etc.
100% of NCHDs are working overtime.
54% are not getting paid for their overtime.
An 80 hour week is common.
40% are working shifts over 24 hours long.
75% aren’t getting their breaks.
The HSE are putting the public in danger with these working conditions. They’re putting staff at risk. Hopefully industrial action won’t be necessary, but if it is, the public need to understand the legitimacy of the concerns leading to it.
These are figures from the IMO based on the current working conditions.
NCHD – non-consultant hospital doctor
[deleted]
*Non-consultant doctors
They should, even a health crisis wasn’t enough for them to do anything about it.
All they did there was run an experiment with delivering vaccines to the richest ahead of everyone else and they got away with it. Oh and they of course delivered claps and well wishes to the workers.
What is the matter with our health service.
Like ffs, even during a pandemic we won’t give the staff their dues.
They need to cut out the layers upon layers of middle management bureaucracy that achieve nothing but jobs for the boys and girls and start listening to the people who actually run the thing.
I’m working a 77 hour week this week and I’ve spent the last three weeks covering gaps from other NCHDs who got sick with covid. The HSE has shown not a single iota of interest in helping us with the immense burden placed on us by both themselves and the pandemic. They’re perfectly content to let you be seen by exhausted, overworked doctors who can’t give you as much time as you deserve, because it makes no difference to them. We don’t want you waiting two years for a clinic or 16 hours in A&E, but the HSE doesn’t listen to us. All we want is what we’re legally entitled to, which is legal working hours and correct pay. I don’t even want more pay, I just want to be paid correctly without having to fight for it every fortnight. I don’t want no overtime, I just want to not be working 50+ hours every single week for eternity.
Off to Oz. Sad.
There is no solution to this than a complete and total reform of the health service, which is political suicide as every union that touches the health service will be up in arms. It needs someone with balls of steel to just dump the whole thing and start again, breaking down every structure and process and rebuilding from scratch.
Political suicide.
Someone else made the same point in a slightly different way when explaining why the Australian system is better.
We are part of the problem.
And our employers.
Countries with better health care systems are better because they pay a fortune for healthcare obligatory private insurance.
It’s an absolute fortune extra. When I worked abroad I was paying about €400 a month in obligatory insurance and my employer was paying €800.
The health system was amazing. But because we paid for it.