Rotunda row delivers message to hospitals on private care

All hospitals will have closely watched the outcome of the controversy involving the Rotunda Hospital and consultants on the public only contract doing private work.

The position of the Government was made starkly clear in recent days, that universal healthcare under Slaintecare means that private work must be separated from public work.

Today the Master of the Rotunda, Professor Sean Daly, said it was in the early stages of dealing with the issue and the Board had wanted to meet the Minister for Health to discuss it.

He has explained it involved one consultant who had delivered five babies privately and there are eight women who were also due to be treated privately.

It is expected these patients will now be accommodated in another way at the Rotunda, perhaps by transfer to a consultant there not on the public only consultant contract.

Prof Daly said there was a fairly significant threat that government funding would be cut, if the matter was not resolved.

The hospital was never going to take a risk that might affect patient safety, so it backed down last evening.

It has also provided the HSE with details of the private practice.

Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill says her information is that this is not happening in other public hospitals.

She has also sought to dispel suggestions that private maternity care is the only safe care.

The Rotunda had taken legal advice on the clause in the Public Only Consultants Contract (POCC), which allows the option for the employer, to allow a consultant on the contract, to do private work, if the consultant requested this.

Legally the Board had to consider requests from consultants and it felt it had made a reasonable decision.

The Government took a very different view and it was a fight with too high a price for the Rotunda.

Because the Rotunda has other consultants who are not on the POCC, they can do private work, so the impact of all of this will not be seen at the hospital for many years, eight-10 according to the Master.

This is when the number of specialists on the old contract reduce due to retirement or replacement.

When the new National Maternity Hospital moves from Holles Street to be eventually built on the St Vincent's University Hospital campus, there will be no private wing in the facility.

But there will be some consultation rooms, where any remaining consultants who are not on the public only consultant contract, will be able to provide private care.

This too will reduce over time, as the number of legacy contract holders decline.

Read More: Threat over cut of Govt funding at Rotunda, says Master