• ‘For this to be effective and produce meaningful results there would need to be an uplift not only in consultant numbers but also amongst all other staff groups within the hospital'

Thursday February 20, 2025. The Chair of the Consultants’ Committee of the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) has said that consultants are not the obstacle to extending routine health services over the weekend but serious investment in staffing and infrastructure, as well as a fundamental change in how hospital care is delivered, are required to support such a move.

Professor Matthew Sadlier was responding to comments made by Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, who said that more consultants were needed in hospitals on the weekends to quicken up the patient discharge process.

Prof Sadlier said: “The reality is that almost all consultants are currently on rosters which involve covering unscheduled care (i.e. emergencies) on weekends. As most consultants have signed up to the new contract it is evident that there is an appetite amongst consultants to provide enhanced care over weekends.

“However, for this to be effective and produce meaningful results there would need to be an uplift not only in consultant numbers but also amongst all other staff groups within the hospital. Just rostering consultants at weekends in the current situation would just result in significant gaps in the service from Monday to Friday.”

Prof Sadlier said that consultants wanted to see a reduction in trolley numbers in hospitals and should not be blamed for the slow discharge of patients over weekends. “For patients to be discharged safely over weekends, we would also need available community services. For example, these include stepdown units, community pharmacies, primary care facilities, meals on wheels and more being in a position to provide support on a seven-day basis. Often patients are identified for discharge, but the limiting factor is outside of the hospital.”

Prof Sadlier added that it would be wrong to primarily focus on discharge times in hospitals. “The last thing we want to do is discharge patients too early, which can lead to early readmission and in some cases adverse outcomes and readmissions. Currently our hospitals are judged too much on ‘hotel statistics’ (i.e. admissions, discharges and waiting times) and not sufficient attention is paid to quality of care outcomes which is the purpose of the healthcare system. Of course we want to discharge patients as soon as possible, but this cannot come at the expense of good medicine and maximising clinical outcomes for patients.

“We look forward to working with the Minister to delivering a health service that is capable of meeting the needs of the population.”