What do public contract consultants shout when they hear premium babies are due for weekend arrival?“Hold me white coat!”This would be a nod to tradition, custom and (private) practice, which is very important to them, even if interfering Ministers such as Jennifer Carroll MacNeill have no time for the quaint employment conventions enjoyed by some hospital consultants these days.White coats aren’t in vogue in the medical business any more. When a public consultant is offered a weekend nixer by a consultant who does private work, it’s more a case of: “I’ll get me scrubs.” Then, the private practice stork arrives and drops a little bundle of joy, a bouncing baby bonus, into the welcoming arms of the public-only consultant. It’s a wonderful thing. And such a relief to hear those heartwarming words when another weekend delivery of a premium baby goes to plan and the patter of not-so-tiny payments hits the relevant account.“Consultant and consultant doing well.”Bless.Social Democrats deputy leader Cian O’Callaghan was fascinated by a recent Irish Independent story describing how consultants employed on public-only contracts in the Rotunda hospital in Dublin are given “gifts” of up to €1,500 to carry out weekend maternity care for the private patients of colleagues who cannot be present for a birth.This lovely token of appreciation is not to be confused with an actual fee for services rendered as the money is merely a “gift” to a colleague for doing them a good turn.For all we know, the obliging medics giving fellow staff members a dig-out aren’t expecting anything in return. A bottle of whiskey, a restaurant voucher or a grand into the paw – it’s always nice to be appreciated. It’s good manners. The Rotunda is fine with these generous collegiate gestures happening on a regular basis as “it’s a long-standing practice”, O’Callaghan told the Taoiseach during Leaders’ Questions. The hospital also says the payment of these gifts is “personal to the consultants and the hospital is not involved”, he said. This shouldn’t be happening, he told Micheál Martin, who didn’t have to be told as he has been saying much the same thing since the controversy surfaced over some Rotunda consultants paid to treat public patients also dabbling in private work. When the Minister for Health threatened to withdraw the hospital’s funding, the venerable Parnell Square hospital huffed and puffed, but backed down in the face of Carroll MacNeill. It would be public-only work for the public-only workers from now on, they promised. But is this really happening, wondered O’Callaghan. The saga of the “gifts” doesn’t exactly inspire confidence, especially in light of “an emerging pattern of breeches” of the public-only contract “around the country”.An obstetrician on a public-only contract would probably get a big gift for helping out with a private patient’s breech delivery.Sorry. That’s “an emerging pattern of breaches”. Breaches of national healthcare policy agreed following long and tough negotiations with the Government over a number of years after which consultants signed on the dotted line.The people running the Rotunda have a good sense of humour, though. They came out with a cracker of a line when justifying the thoughtful gifting that goes on between doctors giving each other dig-outs. The Soc Dems deputy leader retold it to the Dáil. The Rotunda says the payment of these gifts is “personal to the consultants and the hospital is not involved”. That’s hilarious. Cian wasn’t laughing. “Given that women are giving birth in the Rotunda and are treated by consultants employed by the Rotunda, this is clearly nonsense. The hospital is very much involved. It just doesn’t want to act.”To be fair to the oldest maternity hospital in the world, and a shining beacon to motherhood and professional collegiality, Cian had other institutions in his sights. At the start of a new Dáil week, he had new information and couldn’t wait to pass it on to the Taoiseach. He got it from the chair of the Oireachtas health committee, who is his party’s spokesperson on the subject. “Taoiseach, whistleblowers have informed my colleague, Deputy Pádraig Rice, that the payment of these gifts is not confined to the Rotunda,” said Cian, who needs to work on his dramatic pause. “It is happening at Cork University Maternity Hospital too.”Well. It was bad enough when it was happening above in Parnell Square, but in Cork city, too? That’s what Padráig, a TD for Cork South-Central, was told.Did the Taoiseach, also a Cork South-Central TD, know about this?“No.” Micheál was very interested in the mention of whistleblowers. “I haven’t had access to those whistleblowers. I don’t know whether they’ve formally given their information to the HSE or to the department,” he replied. “So. Are they whistleblowers as per the Act, or is it any, is it people who’ve just gone to you directly?”The Taoiseach hoped Rice might be able to clarify that for him at a later stage. He is something of a whistleblower magnet at the moment. Others have also come forward with concerning information about University Hospital Galway, O’Callaghan disclosed.It seems there is a deal in place where consultants on public-only contracts are being asked by management to do laboratory work for private patients. While many consultants are refusing to do this, it is still leading to delays for public patients, he revealed. How many more breaches of the agreement are happening elsewhere around the country?Micheál Martin, who supports the Minister for Health’s determination not to allow public-only consultants to treat private patients in public hospitals, was adamant. “People can’t be signing contracts and then arbitrarily varying these contracts or decided to ignore them.” Rosters are at the root of the problem, it seems. The Taoiseach gave some percentages for consultants working during the week and at weekends. There seems to be a definite allergy problem concerning weekend work, with only 11 per cent of them rostered for Saturdays. Then he put the frighteners on the medics. “The Minister is very clear about engaging with all the hospitals to ensure engagement and compliance.” And if the Carroll MacNeill threat doesn’t work, there is always the Al Capone method. Cian O’Callaghan wanted to know if the Revenue was aware of this “gifting” wheeze among consultants in certain hospitals?Revenue, of course, is independent, Micheál said, but he is sure they would have read that article about consultants giving gifts to their public-only colleagues for delivering favours and “will respond to any issues that arise”. Good stuff.