Foreign doctors are struggling for positions at consultant level within the Irish healthcare system.
Doctors who have come from abroad now make up almost half of the non consultant positions in the Irish health service. These doctors are becoming increasingly frustrated at what they claim is systematic discrimination, which prevents them from competing at different levels for top jobs. They feel they are being denied access to training posts and consultant positions.
Foreign doctors say they are being treated as fodder in a two tier system.
The doctors claim there is an inbuilt discrimination in the healthcare system. Forty-six per cent of all junior and non-consultant positions are now filled by doctors from overseas. However, they represent just one per cent at consultant grade.
Dr Asam Ishtiaq, Irish Medical Organisation (IMO), says that foreign doctors have worked hard for long hours for the Irish healthcare system but are not represented at higher grades.
Statistics show that many foreign doctors are placed in positions that Irish born doctors are not willing to do. Professor Gerard Bury, president of the Irish Medical Council, says that many doctors who do not come from the European Union have ended up in less attractive posts with little opportunity for advancement.
Dr Altaf Naqui from Pakistan has been working in the Irish healthcare system for 16 years. A fully trained surgeon with five years of experience in vascular medicine. In the area of medical training the job he does is not a recognised training post. His Irish colleagues doing the same work have their work recognised by the accrediting body. Altaf Naqu can not obtain a completion of training certificate, which would allow him onto a specialist register. At present, he has no chance of becoming a consultant. He wants his training, which has been carried out in Irish hospitals, to be recognised. He feels that the only way to advance his career is to leave Ireland. However, he has an Irish family who do not want to leave.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 30 January 2001. The reporter is Tony Connelly.
