Reliance on locums in hospitals hindering long-term planning for our health service – Burke

The reliance on locum hospital consultants in our hospitals is hindering long-term planning for our health service, a Fine Gael TD has said.

In response to questioning by Fine Gael TD for Cork North Central and member of the Oireachtas Health Committee, Colm Burke, the HSE has confirmed that one in every six consultants (16.5%) are locum consultants. In total, there are more than 760 consultants working on non-permanent contracts across hospitals in Ireland.

Commented Deputy Burke said: “Following my questioning of current HSE CEO Bernard Gloster, the HSE has revealed that there are 763 locum doctors in consultant positions in Ireland. The largest number of locum consultants employed was in the speciality of medicine (236) followed by psychiatry (141) and surgery (101).

“As a member of the Oireachtas Health Committee I have constantly raised the need for forward planning in the recruitment of hospital consultants. Of particular concern is the fact that posts are only advertised after a consultant has retired even where HSE management have adequate notice of their intention to leave the service.

“Many of the current cohorts of locum consultants are filling posts intended to be part of a new clinical service. It is difficult to see how a consultant who may have no prospect of being made permanent can develop and lead a team. Moreover, recent research from the UK shows that a reliance on locums can ‘likely cause some quality and safety problems in healthcare organisations, and likely to mean that such problems are not properly dealt and resolved in ways that improve quality and safety.’

“The reliance on locums is especially challenging for smaller hospitals with many having double digit numbers of locums, for example in Letterkenny (27), Tullamore (26), Tralee (32), and Tipperary (15). Smaller hospitals often have the additional challenge of only attracting a low number of applicants to vacant consultant positions.

“Existing consultants have expressed concern to me that departments with an excessive reliance on locum staff affects delivery of patient care through disruption in continuity of care and team morale. Communication and the therapeutic relationship can become very fragmented.

“The publication last week of a paper on ‘Ireland’s Future Health and Social Care Workforce’ is a really important step forward in terms of better planning and structuring of our healthcare professionals. In addition, the move to a greater focus on budgets led by regions is an opportunity for those heavily relying on locums to change their approach.

“With a new CEO about to start, now is the perfect time for the HSE to set clear targets for 2026 to fill vacant posts and reduce the reliance on locum consultants in Irish hospitals”, concluded Deputy Burke.