CAAC concerned about contracts of indefinite duration

Concern has been expressed about the number of applications for contracts of indefinite duration coming before the consultant applications advisory committee (CAAC), the Medical Independent (MI) can report.

At a meeting of the CAAC on 4 February 2020, the minutes of which were seen by MI through Freedom of Information, a discussion took place on the matter of contracts of indefinite duration (CID) and the impact they had on the recruitment opportunities for future consultants.

The discussion arose regarding an application for a consultant orthopaedic surgeon position in University Hospital Waterford.

It was agreed that the CAAC Chairperson Dr Aine Carroll would write to the National Director of Human Resources Ms Anne Marie Hoey on the matter.
In her letter to Ms Hoey on 6 February, Dr Carroll wrote: “The committee noted the prevalence of CIDs in a number of applications presented to it for consideration.

“Members asked that their concerns be brought to your attention in the context of recruitment and retention for approved consultant posts,” the letter stated.

The HSE did not respond to questions from this newspaper about how the Executive was responding to these concerns.

Dr Carroll also wrote a letter to Ms Hoey the following month concerning replacement posts due to retirement.

At the meeting of the CAAC on 3 March 2020, the committee considered an application for a replacement post where the incumbent was due to retire.

“The committee, mindful of the current working group on consultant recruitment and retention, has asked that more coordination between planned retirements and approval of replacement posts be considered,” according to the letter.

At its meeting in May, the CAAC discussed a HSE circular on revised arrangements for change in contract requests during the Covid-19 outbreak.