Doctors who returned from overseas to help combat Covid-19 in Ireland now feel "betrayed" after being told they are no longer needed, the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) has said.
The IMO, which represents doctors, said medics who responded to Minister for Health Simon Harris’s call in March for “all hands on deck” to deal with the pandemic are being told to take unpaid leave from their short-term contracts over the coming weeks.
Many had given up jobs and prospects in Australia, the US and Britain "to make sure their families and countrymen would be protected", said Dr Paddy Hillery, who chairs the IMO's committee for non-consultant hospital doctors.
He said they underwent two weeks unpaid quarantine on their return from abroad, with some left out of pocket having to pay rent and being ineligible for pandemic unemployment payments.
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“To say to these doctors, ‘Thank you for coming back, but we don’t need you right now, we’ll call you again if we do’ is unacceptable,” Dr Hillery said.
“There is a sense of betrayal. Staff have put themselves on the front line treating people with Covid, putting themselves and their families at risk.”
Three-month contracts
The IMO is polling doctors to establish the exact figure for those who returned but are not being retained.
Latest figures show 393 doctors returned to the medical register to practice after Mr Harris launched the Health Service Executive (HSE) recruitment campaign at the start of the coronavirus crisis, under the slogan: "Your country needs you."
Around half of these came out of retirement, while the "vast majority" of the rest returned from overseas to help tackle the outbreak, according to the Medical Council. It is not known how many doctors who remained on the medical register while overseas also returned for the crisis.
Of those who returned, Dr Hillery said they were put on three-month contracts and many who want to stay on in Ireland are being told there is no work for them.
“Some are being told they can go on a list, and they might be taken on if someone else drops out, some are being told there are no jobs for them, and some are being offered jobs that wouldn’t be at their skill level,” he said.
“Some who should be offered consultancy positions will be looking for junior positions because there is no availability at their level. Unfortunately some will return abroad because there is no opportunity for jobs here.”
Travel bans throughout the world will mean others have “no option” but to seek temporary work in Ireland.
Recruitment drive
The Medical Council, which regulates the profession, is planning to raise the issue with Mr Harris and the HSE.
The HSE said it hired about 2,500 new staff in a national recruitment drive during the crisis, and that there was also “significant” recruitment locally, including of healthcare workers that returned from overseas.
But it was unable to give figures on the numbers that returned from overseas, saying it does not record that detail.
A HSE spokeswoman said it was “not aware” of any staff being asked to take unpaid leave.
“Many of the candidates will continue to work in the current service they are working in as there is an ongoing need for nurses, doctors and other relevant staff,” the spokeswoman said.