2026/28 – Consultant Obstetrician Gynaecologist, S.I. MFM - Dublin, County Dublin
2 days ago
Job description
2026/28 - Consultant Obstetrician Gynaecologist,
S.I., Maternal Fetal Medicine
Permanent, Full-Time
Job Specification & Terms and Conditions
Job Title and Grade
Consultant Obstetrician & Gynaecologist, with a special interest in Maternal Fetal Medicine
Competition Reference
2026/28
Closing Date
20th March 2026
Taking up Appointment
Ideally, the successful candidate will take up duty no later than 4 months of being interviewed.
Location of Post
This is an appointment on a POCC23by the Health Service Executive to be based at the Rotunda Hospital Dublin (27 hours per week), Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda (7 hours per week) & Cavan General Hospital (3 hours per week)
Details of Service
The Rotunda Hospital Dublin is a large Tertiary Referral Unit, delivering 8500 to 9000 women per annum. The Rotunda Hospital provides high risk obstetric (maternal fetal medicine) services to the patients. This includes provision of early pregnancy assessment, detailed fetal anomaly scanning, prenatal diagnosis, fetal surgical and medical therapy, maternal medicine clinics (such as endocrine, diabetes, cardiac, epilepsy, infectious disease, renal, and addiction clinics), anaesthesia, and obstetric psychiatry services. These services refer into one of Ireland's largest Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) which looks after over 1,500 admissions per annum, caring for premature infants at gestational ages as low as 23 weeks. Patients are referred from every maternity hospital in the Republic of Ireland, as well as from Northern Ireland, for these specialised maternal fetal medicine services, but in particular, from other Dublin North East (DNE) Group Hospitals (Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital Drogheda and Cavan General Hospital).
Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital Drogheda delivers 2500 to 3000 women per annum, and is part of the Dublin North East Region. It provides a regional service for preterm delivery and accepts transfers from further afield when NICU care is expected to be required. Emergency care is based in Drogheda with outreach antenatal clinics being provided locally in Dundalk and Navan. There are specialised High Risk antenatal clinics both for maternal diabetes, as well as for pregnancies where either the mother or baby is felt to be at increased risk. These specialised services include early pregnancy assessment, maternity day care, fetal anomaly scanning, endocrine-diabetes, and high risk pregnancy clinics.
Cavan General Hospital unit delivers approximately women per annum. The Hospital is part of the DNE Hospital Group, and has a dedicated NICU, which provides for preterm deliveries above 30 weeks' gestation. This functions in conjunction with Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital Drogheda, as well as referring into the Rotunda Hospital Dublin for transfer and care of very preterm deliveries. Like Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital Drogheda, Cavan General Hospital has an emergency department, together with medical, surgical, paediatric, radiology, haematology, microbiology and pathology services. Emergency care is based in Cavan with outreach antenatal clinics being provided locally in Monaghan. There are also specialised high risk antenatal clinics, both for maternal diabetes and for pregnancies where either the mother or baby are felt to be at particular risk. Specialised services include early pregnancy assessment, antenatal clinics, maternity day care, obstetric ultrasound, and bereavement services for fetal loss. There is also a midwifery provided delivery suite in both Cavan General and Our Lady of Lourdes Hospitals.
Practice plans will be developed for the maternal fetal medicine consultant appointee, as well as for general obstetric and gynaecologic consultants at Cavan General Hospital and Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital Drogheda, which will clarify the nature of obstetric patient care at these sites. This will ensure that the higher risk patients are managed at the most appropriate clinical site, including bi-directional transfer of patients as needed between the three Maternity hospitals of the DNE Hospital Group. It is expected that a team consultant subspecialists in maternal fetal medicine will be appointed and will engage in a supervisory role in ensuring that high risk obstetric patients' care is provided at the most appropriate clinical site. They will be given appropriate administrative back-up to support this quality monitoring role. This will include review of hospital activity data as well as leading regular cross-discipline clinical review meetings.
Reporting Relationship
The Consultant's reporting relationship and accountability for the discharge of his/her contract is:
i) to the Master / Chief Executive Officer/General Manager of the Hospital (or other employing institution) through his/her Clinical Director. Details of the Appointment and Profile of the Clinical Director are contained in Appendix IV (where such is in place). The Hospital Network Manager may require the Consultant to report to him/her from time to time.
Purpose of the Post
The high level purpose of the post is to optimise the service provision of maternal-fetal medicine and high risk obstetrics for all women in the DNE Hospital Maternity Network, spanning the three obstetric hospitals at the Rotunda, Drogheda and Cavan.
Principal Duties and Responsibilities
Standard Duties and responsibilities
a) To participate in development of and undertake all duties and functions pertinent to the Consultant's area of competence, as set out within the Clinical Directorate Service Plan and in line with policies as specified by the Employer.
b) To ensure that duties and functions are undertaken in a manner that minimises delays for patients and possible disruption of services.
c) To work within the framework of the hospital / agency's service plan and/or levels of service (volume, types etc.) as determined by the Employer. Service planning for individual clinical services will be progressed through the Clinical Directorate structure or other arrangements as apply.
d) To co-operate with the expeditious implementation of the Disciplinary Procedure (attached at Appendix II).
e) To formally review the execution of the Clinical Directorate Service Plan with the Clinical Director / Employer periodically. The Clinical Directorate Service Plan shall be reviewed periodically at the request of the Consultant or Clinical Director / Employer. The Consultant may initially seek internal review of the determinations of the Clinical Director regarding the Service Plan.
f) To participate in the development and operation of the Clinical Directorate structure and in such management or representative structures as are in place or being developed. The Consultant shall receive training and support to enable him/her to participate fully in such structures.
g) To provide, as appropriate, consultation in the Consultant's area of designated expertise in respect of patients of other Consultants at their request.
h) To ensure in consultation with the Clinical Director that appropriate medical cover is available at all times having due regard to the implementation of the European Working Time Directive as it relates to doctors in training.
i) To supervise and be responsible for diagnosis, treatment and care provided by non-Consultant Hospital Doctors (NCHDs) treating patients under the Consultant's care.
j) To participate as a right and obligation in selection processes for Non-Consultant Hospital Doctors and other staff as appropriate. The Employer will provide training as required. The Employer shall ensure that a Consultant representative of the relevant specialty / sub-specialty is involved in the selection process.
k) To participate in clinical audit and proactive risk management and facilitate production of all data/information required for same in accordance with regulatory, statutory and corporate policies and procedures. This will include participation in morbidity and mortality meetings at the Rotunda, Drogheda and Cavan Hospitals.
l) To participate in and facilitate production of all data/information required to validate delivery of duties and functions and inform planning and management of service delivery.
m) In conjunction with his/her colleagues, to contribute to the development of general obstetrics.
n) In conjunction with key stakeholders, to develop strategic medium to long term objectives that will provide a patient-centred, accessible and cost-effective service.
o) To develop, in conjunction with key stakeholders, strategic medium to long term objectives that will provide a patient-centred, accessible and cost-effective service for those with high risk pregnancies.
p) To work with his/ her colleagues to deliver general and high risk obstetric services across the DNE Group Maternity Network. This will include participation in maternal-fetal medicine services and high risk obstetric care on a 9-5 basis Monday to Friday at regional centres in Drogheda and Cavan, together with participation in 24 hour per day on-call services at the Rotunda Hospital. The day-to-day and week-to-week activities will be specified by means of an individual practice plan, under the supervision of the Group Clinical Director for Women and Infants Services, with the expectation that the practice plan may evolve over time according to the needs of the service.
q) To share in the acute on-call rota to provide cover for obstetrics at the Rotunda.
r) To maintain responsibility for patients admitted under his/ her care.
s) To provide both general obstetric and maternal-fetal medicine outpatient services.
t) To contribute to the development of research and educational commitments to medical students, NCHDs, midwifery/nursing staff and allied health professionals.
u) Through agreed Practice Plans, to provide a supervisory and advisory role to general obstetric and gynaecologic consultant colleagues at regional hospitals in ensuring the appropriate provision of care to high risk obstetrics patients, including supervision of bidirectional transfer of such patients between the three maternity hospitals of the DNE network.
The above Job Description is not intended to be a comprehensive list of all duties involved and consequently, the post holder may be required to perform other duties as appropriate to the post which may be assigned to him/her from time to time and to contribute to the development of the post while in office.
Eligibility Criteria
Qualifications and/ or experience
- Registration as a specialist in the Specialist Division of the Register of Medical Practitioners maintained by the Medical Council in Ireland in the specialty of obstetrics and gynaecology.
- Clear evidence of completion of a specific training programme in maternal-fetal medicine, as evidenced by a certification or qualification by a national or internationally recognized body.
Entry to competition / recruitment process
No candidate will be appointed as a Medical Consultant unless (s)he is registered as a Specialist in the Specialist Division of the Register of Medical Practitioners maintained by the Medical Council of Ireland.
Successful candidates must be registered as a Specialist in the relevant Specialty on the Specialist Division of the Register of Medical Practitioners maintained by the Medical Council of Ireland within 180 days of the day of interview.
Should the successful candidate not be registered as a Specialist at that time, the post may be offered to the next suitable candidate. Should no suitable candidate exist, a further recruitment process may be initiated.
Health
A candidate for and any person holding the office must be fully competent and capable of undertaking the duties attached to the office and be in a state of health such as would indicate a reasonable prospect of ability to render regular and efficient service.
Character
Each candidate for and any person holding the office must be of good character
Age
Age restrictions shall only apply to a candidate where he/she is not classified as a new entrant (within the meaning of the Public Service Superannuation Act, A candidate who is not classified as a new entrant must be under 65 years of age on the first day of the month in which the latest date for receiving completed application forms for the office occurs.
Section 62 Post
It is noted that this post of Consultant Obstetrician & Gynaecologist is considered to carry with it duties involving the teaching of clinical medicine and/or the conduct of medical research under the direction of Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland. Therefore this post is considered a Section 62 post under the Health Act 1953 as amended by the Health Act 2004.
Other requirements specific to the post
To be available to attend labour ward within 30 minutes when on duty.
Skills, competencies and/or knowledge
- Demonstrate expertise in obstetric ultrasound, and in delivery of a maternal-fetal medicine service.
- Demonstrate leadership and planning skills within a multi disciplinary team around the setup & organization of a maternal-fetal medicine service.
- Demonstrate evidence of effective planning and organising skills including awareness of resource management and importance of value for money.
- Demonstrate evidence of ability to empathise with and treat patients, relatives and colleagues with dignity and respect.
- Demonstrate evidence of ability to manage a busy labour ward effectively.
- Demonstrate an ability to engage in research and clinical trials.
- Demonstrate an ability to participate fully in audit and clinical governance programmes.
Competition Specific Selection Process
Ranking/Shortlisting / Interview
A ranking and or shortlisting exercise may be carried out on the basis of information supplied in the candidate's application form. The criteria for ranking and or shortlisting are based on the requirements of the post as outlined in the eligibility criteria and skills, competencies and/or knowledge section of this job specification. Therefore it is very important that the candidate thinks about their experience in light of those requirements.
Failure to include information regarding these requirements may result in the candidate not being called forward to the next stage of the selection process.
Protection of Persons Reporting Child Abuse Act 1998
As this post is one of those designated under the Protection of Persons Reporting Child Abuse Act 1998, appointment to this post appoints one as a designated officer in accordance with Section 2 of the Act. The appointee will remain a designated officer for the duration of their appointment to their current post or for the duration of their appointment to such other post as is included in the categories specified in the Ministerial Direction. The appointee will receive full information on their responsibilities under the Act on appointment.
This job description is a guide to the general range of duties assigned to the post holder. It is intended to be neither definitive nor restrictive and is subject to periodic review with the employee concerned.
Informal enquiries to:
Professor Sean Daly, Master, The Rotunda Hospital, Email:
Application procedure:
Applications should be made via the Rotunda Careers Website and include a current Curriculum Vitae and cover letter. If you have any queries about the application process, please contact
This post will be in full compliance with relevant Employment Legislation Acts.
Closing Date is 20th March 2026 at 5pm.
The Rotunda Hospital is an equal opportunity employer.
Please Note: Line Managers must bring this notice to the attention of all relevant staff within their Department, including any staff on leave i.e., Sick, Maternity, Annual, Parental, Carers, Unpaid, Career Break, Flexible Working Time Arrangements and Secondment.