Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 17 October 2013
218. Deputy Patrick Nulty asked the Minister for Health the action he is taking to ensure that consultants stick to the terms of their contracts by working a maximum of 20% and in a few cases 30% in private practice; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44024/13]
View answerA central objective of the consultant contract is to improve access for public patients to public hospital services. The contract sets out clear rules on the mix of public-private practice that may be undertaken by consultants and measures to manage these rules by appointed clinical directors.
These include a total prohibition on consultants undertaking private practice (Type A contract holders) and a cap of 20% of private activity for newly appointed consultants (Type B) and a cap of up to 30% in the case of certain existing consultants.
The HSE has put a monitoring system in place to report on public/private activity as provided for in the contract and to inform any necessary follow-up actions in individual cases. Therefore I have referred the question to the Executive, who will respond directly to the Deputy in this regard.
