Burke urges HSE recruitment amid reliance on 100 locum staff in Cork hospitals 

A call has been made to the Health Service Executive (HSE) to bolster full-time recruitment in 2026, as almost 100 locum consultants are currently working across Cork hospitals and healthcare facilities.

This is according to data derived from the HSE’s Doctors Integrated Management E-system (DIME), which shows there are a total of 760 stand-in consultants working across the HSE nationwide.

In response to a parliamentary question raised by Fine Gael Cork North Central TD, Colm Burke, the HSE confirmed that of the 760 locum consultants employed by the HSE across Ireland, 94 of them are working across hospitals and healthcare facilities in Cork.

According to the data, Cork University Hospital (CUH) has the highest number of locum consultants at 51; followed by Mercy University Hospital at 11; South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital (SIVUH) at 8; CAMHS at 6,; MHS South Lee at 6; MHS North Lee at 5; Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH) at 5, and Mallow General Hospital at 2.

These locum consultants are working across the areas of anaesthesiology and intensive care medicine, emergency medicine, general medicine, obstetrics and gynaecology, ophthalmology, paediatrics, pathology, psychiatry, radiology, and surgery.

Of these areas, general medicine has the highest number of locum consultants in Cork at 21, followed by surgery at 14, psychiatry at 12, anaesthesiology and intensive care medicine at 9, pathology at 9, paediatrics at 6, radiology at 6, emergency medicine at 4, obstetrics and gynaecology at 4, and ophthalmology at 3.

Mr Burke said that as a member of the Oireachtas Health Committee, he has “constantly raised the need for forward planning in the recruitment of hospital consultants”.

“Many of the current cohorts of locum consultants are filling posts intended to be part of a new clinical service,” said Mr Burke.

“Of particular concern is the fact that posts are only advertised after a consultant has retired even where HSE management have adequate notice of their intention to leave the service.

“It is difficult to see how a consultant who may have no prospect of being made permanent can develop and lead a team.

“The reliance on locums is especially challenging for smaller hospitals, [which] often have the additional challenge of only attracting a low number of applicants to vacant consultant positions,” he added.

“Existing consultants have expressed concern that departments with an excessive reliance on locum staff affects delivery of patient care through disruption in continuity of care and team morale.

“The publication last week of a paper on ‘Ireland’s Future Health and Social Care Workforce’ is a really important step forward in terms of better planning and structuring of our healthcare professionals.

“The move to a greater focus on budgets led by regions is an opportunity for those heavily relying on locums to change their approach.

“Now is the perfect time for the HSE to set clear targets for 2026 to fill vacant posts and reduce the reliance on locum consultants in Irish hospitals."