Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 February 2014
644. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health if he will provide details of any special arrangements that exist with regard to the employment of consultants in St. Vincent's Hospital outside the terms of the standard consultant contracts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6832/14]
View answerMost hospital consultants are employed under the Consultant Contract 2008. Over 85% of consultants hold this contract, as Type A, B or B* contract holders.
Type A contract holders have no access to private practice. Type B contract holders are subject to a cap of 20% private activity on-site, if newly appointed, or a cap of up to 30% on-site in the case of certain existing consultants. Type B* contract holders may engage in private practice on-site and off-site.
A minority of consultants hold Consultants Contract 1997, Category 1, Category 2 or Geographical Wholetime without fees. Category 1 consultants are permitted to engage in private practice on-site. Category 2 consultants may engage in private practice on-site and off-site.
The right of Type B* (2008 Contract) and Category 2 (1997 Contract) consultants to engage in private practice off-site is subject to certain conditions. These conditions include such private practice being confined to periods outside the aggregate hourly weekly commitment and other scheduled commitments to the public service.
My Department has written to the HSE requesting that it satisfies itself that all hospitals are enforcing consultants' contractual provisions regarding private practice, specifically drawing its attention to assertions made concerning academic teaching hospitals in Dublin not being compliant with the contractual provisions.
The following information was provided under Standing Order 40A
Further to the reply provided, the HSE has now provided the following additional supplementary information to more explicitly clarify the position as follows:
There are no special employment arrangements applying to Consultants employed by St Vincent’s University Hospital or St Michael’s Hospital (the two public hospital components of the St Vincent’s Hospital Group). Under the Health 2004 the HSE has statutory responsibility for the regulation of consultant posts in the public health system. As part of the delivery of that regulatory function, the HSE determines the location, contract type, hours, qualifications and other aspects of each consultant post. The HSE has not sanctioned any special employment arrangement in relation to consultant posts under St Vincent’s University Hospital.
Guidance to HSE and HSE-funded agencies regarding the extent to which Consultants employed in posts approved by the HSE can engage in private practice is set out in the document, forwarded to the Deputy, issued in September 2009 (entitled ‘Public and private patients in Public hospitals - Guidance to health service management on the treatment of public and private patients’).
The Guidance noted (at Section 8) that Consultant Contract 2008 provides that Type B Consultants who took up posts for the first time under Consultant Contract 2008 may only engage in private practice “in hospitals or facilities operated by the Employer, as part of such activities that arise as part of the employment contract (e.g. home visits) and in colocated private hospitals on public hospital campuses”.
Arising from information provided to the HSE by St Vincent’s Hospital Group, the HSE is satisfied that Consultants employed by St Vincent’s University Hospital or St Michael’s Hospital do not share an employer with St Vincent’s Private Hospital and are employed separately to employees of St Vincent’s Private Hospital. St Vincent’s Private Hospital is not a co-located private hospital as determined by the Department of Health or the HSE. In this regard Type B Consultants who took up post for the first time under Consultant Contract 2008 have no entitlement to private practice in St Vincent’s Private Hospital.
