asked the Minister for Health if he intends to change the present procedure whereby consultants use public hospital facilities for their private patients.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Private Facilities in Public Hospitals.
7.
I am at present considering the question of the use by consultants of public hospital facilities in the treatment of their private patients and I propose shortly to make a statement about the matter.
Will the Minister accept that any change in the present situation would be a major departure from established practice in the health services? Has the Minister of State or the Minister had consultations with the health boards about any proposed changes, or have they had consultations with other interested bodies, such as consultants?
Our problem has been that we have tended to live with established practice for too long. If consultants are using public hospitals for private patients one has to examine if that is correct. If it has gone on before that does not make it right but it is something which must be examined. If public funds are used for private reasons, and people are in a position to pay, I would not consider this to be a bad thing. The Minister said he is going to make a statement on it. I have not had any consultations with the health boards but the Minister has been visiting the health board areas recently. I am not in a position to say if he discussed this particular matter with them. Knowing the Minister I have no doubt he will consult with all concerned before he makes a definitive statement.
In reply to a similar question I asked last week, the Minister indicated that no record was kept by the health boards of the number of patients being treated privately in public hospitals.
A question, please.
Is the Minister approaching the health boards with a view to getting them to keep a record of the number of the patients being treated privately by consultants, the amount of equipment being tied up, the number of staff involved and the cost to the health boards of this practice? Is he considering a revision of the common contract between the Department and the consultants?
It was the Minister who made this statement and I know he is keen to have this examined. Obviously the health boards will have to keep records if there is any change to be passed on to private patients or to consultants. That would be automatic. With regard to the common contract, the Minister indicated that there would be discussions about this.
Would the Minister of State accept that there is a need for consultation between all interested parties — the health boards, the consultants, the trade unions and so on? Would he convey to his Minister that because of a change brought about by the Social Welfare Bill people in the category between £11,000 and £13,000 will have to pay for these services, and many of them would not be in a position to do so? This would be a very fundamental change in the administration of the health services.
I am a great believer in consultation, which is much better than confrontation. It would be unwise to make decisions without consulting all interested parties.
A final supplementary. We are having a debate on every question.
I am bowing to my colleague——
We have had seven questions in 35 minutes.
Can I take it from the Minister's reply that he will be instructing the health boards to keep records which they have not done to date?
Obviously if this change takes place records will have to be kept. It is not just a question of issuing directives. No doubt the Minister will have consultations with the health boards and directives will issue to them on any changes to be made.
When will the result of the study be known? When will the statement be issued? What specific changes are being considered in the study?
I cannot give the actual date but I can assure the Deputy the Minister considers this should be done quickly and I agree with him. If there are charges against public moneys this should be examined thoroughly. In view of scarce financial resources in the health area, if we can recoup resources to provide a better health service for those who cannot afford it, it is imperative that it be done quickly.
The Minister did not answer the second part of my question. What specific changes are being considered?
Where the consultants are using public hospitals for the benefit of their private parients, any service availed of in that public hospital — X-ray, blood tests and so on — would be charged to the private patient.