Richard Bruton
Question:271 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Health and Children whether it is the policy of his Department to refuse public patients the opportunity to opt for a private room when admitted to hospital. [15830/98]
Written Answers. - Hospital Admissions.
Every patient is entitled to full public hospital services including public accommodation and public consultant care. Alternatively one can opt to be the private patient of both the consultant and the hospital. Under these arrangements consultants' private patients must ordinarily be accommodated in private or semi-private beds, while consultants' public patients must ordinarily be accommodated in public beds. In cases of emergency, patients will, of course, be accommodated in whatever bed is available. The requirement that patients make an explicit choice between public and private care was recommended by the Commission on Health Funding on the grounds of equity since, under the previous system, it was possible that some public patients of the hospital could, in non-emergency situations, receive preferential treatment over the public patients by virtue of either being private to the consultant or by obtaining a private bed.