More than 2 100 medical consultants had signed the new public-only consultant contract by 5 April 2024, representing almost 50% of the Irish consultant workforce launched in March 2022. Currently there are 4 265 consultants working in Ireland’s public health system. The top three specialties seeing the largest uptake of the new contract to date are: general medicine, anaesthetics and surgery. Under this contract, consultants can be asked to work 8:00 to 22:00 Monday to Friday and 8:00 to 18:00 Saturday as part of their core 37-hour week. The contract is a public-only contract, meaning consultants will only treat public patients in public hospitals.
The new Sláintecare contract includes:
- basic pay of €217 325 to €261 051 on a six-point scale;
- a 37-hour week from 8:00 to 22:00 Monday to Friday and 8:00 to 18:00 Saturday;
- additional remuneration for on-call duties and overtime as applicable;
- supports for medical education training and research;
- more flexibility for consultants who want to work share, do less than whole-time, work compressed hours or opt for different work patterns.