The Irish Association of Emergency Medicine has warned that patients will face longer waiting times to see doctors due to the pay dispute involving locum or agency doctors.
Yesterday and today, some agency doctors failed to report for work following pay cuts resulting from a new contract negotiated between the Health Service Executive and recruitment agencies, which sees their average pay rate fall from around €40 per hour to €34 per hour.
IAEM President Dr Emily O'Conor estimated that at least one agency or locum doctor withdrew from work in most Emergency Departments today.
She said smaller Emergency Departments in Navan and Portlaoise had lost almost all cover and were down to one doctor in the ED.
The HSE has said in a statement that fewer than 20 locum Non-Consultant Hospital Doctors failed to report for duty today.
It said three hospitals in particular have been affected to date: Tallaght, Portlaoise and Navan.
However, the HSE said all three hospitals are dealing with issues as they arise, and they have been resolved with minimal impact on patient wait times and minimal disruption to service delivery.
The HSE statement said that hospitals and hospital groups are working closely together to ensure issues are identified and addressed proactively and early.
Hospitals will continue to work with the contracted employment agencies to source staff and will continue to assess the position over the coming days.
The HSE statement concludes by noting that all Emergency Departments remain open and the HSE will continue to monitor the situation.
Dr O'Conor said Emergency Medicine consultants were trying to juggle staff to arrange cover.
The IAEM accused the HSE as using patients as pawns, a charge levied against the locum doctors earlier by Minister for Health Simon Harris.
Dr O'Conor queried how long the system could continue without the missing doctors, adding that it was currently operating on good will to plug gaps.
The HSE has defended the new contract, saying that it is under pressure to reduce its spend on agency staff, which currently accounts for €200m of its €3.2bn payroll budget.
The agency bill for doctors alone comes to €90m - with agency doctors earning significantly more than direct employees, to compensate for the lack of a permanent role and pension entitlements.
The HSE says it is anxious for agency doctors to convert to direct employment which would be less expensive, and would bring equity between the pay of direct and agency doctors.
HSE Director of Acute Care Liam Woods ruled out rescinding the pay cuts, stressing that the new contract had been negotiated under EU procurement rules.
Earlier, Mr Harris stressed that Emergency Departments remained open, and noted that even under the new reduced contracts, locum staff were still earning 36% more than directly employed doctors.
Agency doctors did not turn up for work yesterday in at least four emergency departments, with the IAEM fearing the situation would escalate.
Mr Harris said the new payment structure is still 36% higher than what directly-employed doctors are paid.
He said patients should not be used as pawns and called on the doctors involved in the dispute to use the industrial relations mechanisms at their disposal.
Speaking this morning, Mr Harris said there has been criticism of the HSE for its high level of spending on locum doctors and now it has followed legal procedures to make pay more equal and reduce the cost for the taxpayer.
