Vol. 403 No. 1
205 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Health the reason he does not allow patients to avail of the VHI in order to provide a private or semi-private bed, while continuing to avail of their entitlement to free public consultants, to which they are eligible on income grounds; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Where public hospital patients have opted to forego their entitlement to a public bed and become instead a private patient of the hospital, it has been the practice of hospitals to regard them also as private patients of the consultants involved in their care.
The Deputy's proposal will be examined in the context of the review of the eligibility structure in general, which is at present taking place.
