Significant differences in POCC uptake between specialties

There remains significant variation in the uptake of the public-only consultant contract (POCC) between different specialties.

As of December 2025, almost all consultants in public health medicine held the POCC (private practice is not typically a feature of public health medicine). The second highest uptake was in anaesthesiology and intensive care medicine (72 per cent).

However, just 43 per cent of consultants in obstetrics and gynaecology had taken up the contract, according to the figures from HSE National Doctors Training and Planning (NDTP).

The other uptake figures were as follows: Pathology (70 per cent), radiology (65 per cent), general medicine (65 per cent), emergency medicine (63 per cent), paediatrics (57 per cent), surgery (56 per cent), ophthalmology (55 per cent), and psychiatry (53 per cent). The POCC is the only contract offered to new consultants in HSE-funded services.

The Medical Independent asked the HSE whether it had concerns about the wide variations in take-up and if this could impact plans to extend evening and weekend work at hospitals. However, no response had been received at the time of going to press.

Overall, at the end of last year, some 62 per cent of consultants were on the POCC, equating to 2,608 consultants. This represented a 22 per cent increase on the previous year, according to NDTP. The figures are contained in the recently published Medical Workforce Report 2025–2026.

Currently, around 70 per cent of consultants are on the contract.

The NDTP report also noted that 2.5 per cent of all consultants employed in HSE-funded services were not on the specialist division of the Medical Council’s register.