2026/116 Consultant Neonatologist

Hollybank Trustees Ltd; Dublin; On-site; EUR 238,000 - 286,000; Full time

Job summary

The National Neonatal Transport Programme (NNTP) and NAS-CCRS require a Consultant Neonatologist to provide senior clinical leadership and consultant-delivered care. The post is hosted across NAS-CCRS and Rotunda Hospital teams, consolidating national transport responsibilities with dedicated on-call duties.

Based at The Rotunda Hospital, the post involves a 31-hour-per-week NNTP commitment and a 6-hour Rotunda NNTP commitment, delivering high-quality care and developing national clinical

Qualifications

• Registered as a specialist in neonatology with Irish Medical Council.
• Two years of postgraduate neonatology experience.
• Proven leadership in cross-functional teams.

Responsibilities

• Provide consultant-led neonatal transport and clinical leadership.
• Develop national clinical SOPs and educational outreach.
• Support 24/7 neonatal transport service and on-call duties.
• Collaborate with NNTP, NAS-CCRS and Rotunda teams.

Skills

Neonatology expertise

Clinical leadership

Neonatal transport

Audit & governance

Interdisciplinary collaboration

Education

Specialist neonatology training

Irish Medical Council registration

Job description

Location: On site / Dublin, Ireland
job type: Permanent / Full-time
Sector and subsector: Medical & Healthcare | Clinical
Annual Salary range:from € 238,221.00 to € 286,151.00
Salary details: Based on experience.

2026/116 - Consultant Neonatologist

Job Specification & Terms and Conditions

Job Title and Grade

Consultant Neonatologist

Competition Reference

2026/116

Closing Date

October 11 th, 2026, 5pm.

Taking up Appointment

As soon as possible after offer, and within four months.

Location of Post

This is a National Ambulance Service post with a 31 hour per week commitment to the National Neonatal Transport Programme (NNTP) and a 6 hour per week commitment to the Rotunda Hospital Department of Neonatology.

The post is based at The Rotunda Hospital and the post-holder will split their commitment between NAS-CCRS-NNTP frontline operations and the Rotunda-NNTP team.

Details of Service

National Ambulance Service

The National Ambulance Service (NAS) is the State’s statutory provider of pre-hospital emergency care, intermediate care, and critical care retrieval services. Its mission is to deliver high-quality, safe and patient-centred care as part of an integrated health system.

In 2019, the Department of Health and the Health Service Executive commissioned the NAS to establish the National Ambulance Service Critical Care & Retrieval Services (NAS-CCRS). NAS-CCRS provides specialist retrieval and transport medicine for critically ill adults, children and neonates requiring transfer between healthcare facilities. The service coordinates, stabilises, retrieves and transports patients using dedicated retrieval teams led by consultant retrieval physicians, supported by critical care nurses, trainee medical staff and paramedics.

The purpose of NAS-CCRS is to ensure timely access to appropriate critical care, specialist diagnostics and definitive treatment for patients throughout Ireland and, where required, internationally. Its specialist vehicles, aircraft capability and equipment enable the delivery of intensive care from the referring hospital until handover at the receiving centre.

National Neonatal Transport Programme

NNTP was established in 2001 as a collaboration between the 3 Dublin maternity hospitals & NAS. It is a unique infant-focused culture & remains deeply integrated within Ireland’s neonatal networks, crucially supported by Dublin’s 3 maternity hospitals & NAS-CCRS. NNTP is a NATIONAL service operating across all county borders & supporting patients in all 19 maternity units & 3 paediatric hospitals and is the backbone of Irish neonatal services.

NNTP provides a critical care retrieval service for ill newborn infants throughout the State who need to be transferred from a referring hospital to a tertiary or quaternary neonatal/paediatric centre. The service provides for neonates up to 28 days corrected gestational age weighing less than 5.5kgs, with a broad range of conditions including prematurity, congenital heart disease, all types of surgical illnesses, neurological &other problems. NNTP currently transports approximately 900-1,000 newborn infants annually.

Operations extended to 24/7 in 2013, &since then the programme has more than doubled the number of transported patients. The second major expansion happened in 2025 in the aftermath of the statewide NICU bed shortage – non-acute, nurse-led transport team was added &patient contact number jumped from 600/year to 900-1,000/year. This major service expansion has happened in the dynamic context of national bed crisis without appropriate consideration for expansion of WTEs.

Between the voluntary hospitals & NAS - The service is provided by nursing &medical staff of the 3 Dublin NICUs at The National Maternity Hospital (NMH), The Coombe Hospital (CH) &The Rotunda Hospital (RH) on a rotating weekly basis. The service has dedicated specially designed neonatal critical care ambulances (x2) and designated NAS personnel (EMTs).

The transport team consists of a neonatal transport nurse, a neonatal registrar/fellow/consultant, an EMT/driver/paramedic and air crew/paramedics/pilots for air transports.

This post will consolidate in the provision of a consultant-led and consultant-delivered national service, & it will reduce the clinical burden of a tight consultant on call rota currently being placed on existing neonatologists & a reliance on NCHD’s for service delivery. Together with further expansion in WTEs, this will also allow for the necessary widening of NNTP’s national outreach education programme. It will integrate a Rotunda based NNTP Neonatologist alongside Rotunda based NNTP nursing & NCHDs.

The Rotunda Hospital

In the NICU, specialist care is provided to small or sick babies born in the Rotunda or transferred from other centres. The Service admits approx. 1,200 infants per annum to the 39-bedded Neonatal Unit, which has 7 ICU, 12 HDU & 20 special care cots. The unit cares for approximately 100-120 very low birth weight infants per year & the average length of stay is 3 months. It is currently the busiest Level 3 neonatal centre in Ireland.

Reporting Relationship

NAS-CCRS CD, Dr Dermot Doherty via the NNTP Clinical Lead, and to Master of the Rotunda & Clinical Director in Rotunda.

Purpose of the Post

The primary purpose of this post is to provide senior clinical leadership and direct consultant-delivered care within the National Neonatal Transport Programme (NNTP), ensuring the safe and timely transfer of critically ill neonates across the state. Following a significant increase in service activity—rising to approximately 1,000 transports annually—and the expansion of non-acute and repatriation services, this role is essential to mitigate clinical risk and reduce the service's reliance on NCHD-led delivery.

Key responsibilities include the direct provision of inter-hospital transfers, the development of national clinical SOPs, and the delivery of specialized outreach education and paramedic training. Ultimately, this post is critical to sustaining 24/7 consultant-led coverage, optimizing NICU bed flow, and upholding the National Model of Care principle of providing the "right baby, right place, right time."

Principal Duties and Responsibilities

The post will function as a Consultant Neonatologist supporting the current Clinical Lead NNTP in delivering a national transport service. The post must be congruent with the requirements of and facilitate implementation of the HSE’s National Clinical Programmes including commitment to deliver the relevant performance outcomes.

• To participate in development of and undertake all duties and functions pertinent to the Consultant’s area of competence, in line with policies as specified by the employer.
• To ensure in consultation with the Clinical Lead NNTP Consultant 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.
• To supervise and be responsible for diagnosis, treatment and care provided by non-Consultant Hospital Doctors (NCHDs) treating patients under the Consultant’s care.
• Direct and oversee the day-to-day operation of the service.
• Be responsible for the maintenance of a high quality, safe national transport service, in collaboration with the Clinical Lead NNTP.
• 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.
• 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.
• Will be required to accompany the NNTP team on transports which merit consultant presence due to patient acuity or team membership seniority (or lack thereof).
• Maintain clinical reports of each transport for quality and audit purposes.
• Partake in training for all medical and nursing staff undertaking transports. The programme will include NRP, STABLE, high-fidelity training and on-transport supervision.
• To comply with hospital & HSE policies and procedures including those pertaining to Hygiene.
• On call duties: Be part of the on-call rota for the 24/7 neonatal transport service.
• Provide consultation and advice as required at hospital, network and national level.
• Participate in the management of patients in conjunction with other consultant colleagues.
• Actively participate in multidisciplinary teams in conjunction with medical, surgical and other colleagues.
• Actively participate in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching at all levels on site.
• Actively participate in Continued Medical Education, Continued Personal Professional Development and audit in support of clinical practice.
• To supervise and be responsible for diagnosis, treatment and care provided by Doctors in Training treating patients under the Consultant’s care.
• To cooperate with the expeditious implementation of the Disciplinary Procedure.

There are close working relationships with all NICUs and PICUs and referring hospitals nationally, whose staff will participate in treatments as possible and necessary, depending on the skill set required to ensure safe retrieval of a particular patient.

The above 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

Professional Qualifications

The successful candidate should be registered as a specialist in the Specialist Division of the Register of Medical Practitioners maintained by the Medical Council in Ireland in the specialty of Neonatology.

OR

(a) 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 Paediatrics,

and

(b) Two years certified postgraduate training in neonatology.

• Experience of managing cross functional team.
• Experience of project management.
• Experience in a managerial/supervisory role.
• A minimum of 1 years’ knowledge and experience of working in an area of retrieval/transport.

Entry to competition / recruitment process

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, 2004).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.

Other requirements specific to the post

This is an on-call service. The transport consultant will contribute to a 1 in 4 24/7 consultant out-of-hour service support including telephone support for NNTP team and consultant-delivered transports for high-risk cases.

Skills, competencies and/or knowledge

i n addition to registration with the Irish Medical Council, they should have:

• Advanced (fellowship or equivalent) training in neonatology at the time of taking up the appointment.
• Applicants will be expected to provide clinical leadership in development of neonatal health services, including neonatal transport with responsibility for education, training, organisation, provision, and audit of services.
• Skilled in the provision of neonatal intensive care to high-risk patients.
• Possess skills complimentary to the existing Consultant group and beneficial to the future development of services within the departments and hospitals.
• Demonstrate up to date knowledge of routine aspects of neonatology practice, with particular emphasis on neonatal transport.
• 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 neonatal transport service effectively.
• Demonstrate an ability to engage in research and clinical trials.
• Demonstrate an ability to participate fully in audit and clinical governance programme.

Competition Specific Selection Process

Ranking/Shortlisting / Interview

A ranking and or shortlisting exercise may be carried out on the basis of information supplied in your 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 you think about your experience in light of those requirements.

Failure to include information regarding these requirements may result in you 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.You will remain a designated officer for the duration of your appointment to your current post or for the duration of your appointment to such other post as is included in the categories specified in the Ministerial Direction. You will receive full information on your 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.

For queries about the application process, please contact [e-mail]