No one applied for Sligo-Leitrim psychiatrist job
The Public Appointments Service face an uphill battle to attract and fill vacancies in important medical roles.
Last year nine highly-paid hospital consultant positions received no applications after they were advertised.
In Sligo-Leitrim Mental Health Services, roles are constantly being reported as vacant.
Twice, a consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist was sought to fill a vacancy in covering the Sligo Leitrim area.
However, nobody applied for either of the posts after four months of them being advertised.
Another post-split between UGH and Sligo University Hospital, this time for a Consultant Clinical Neurophysiologist attracted no applicants.
It was the same story in the Cavan/Monaghan region where a child and adolescent psychiatrist was being sought to fill a vacancy. There were no candidates, and the service asked the Public Appointments Service to close the competition.
In Donegal, local health services needed a consultant psychiatrist for patients of old age but had no applicants after four months of advertising.
A marketing campaign to fill a geriatric medicine consultant post in Sligo and Leitrim also failed with not a single person responding, according to records from the Public Appointments Service.
Figures from the Public Appointments Service reveal that of the 100 completed public competitions for consultant or senior public health posts last year, 23 did not result in anybody being appointed.
In many other cases, there was only one candidate applying for a post leaving health services with little wriggle room over who got appointed.
In other competitions candidates withdrew their application before appointment.
The HSE says they are recruiting in a very competitive global market for medical consultants both across the hospital and community setting.
A spokesperson said, “However, there are particular challenges across some specialities most notably psychiatry right across the country.
“There are also challenges in recruiting for some specialist posts in some areas. To alleviate these challenges the HSE is investing heavily in improving the overall recruitment capacity, streamlining the candidate journey but also there is significant investment in expanding the international reach.”