Vol. 499 No. 4
126 Mr. Kenneally asked the Minister for Health and Children the way in which rents are calculated for consultants who use hospital consulting rooms and offices for treating private patients; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2877/99]
Where a consultant treats a private patient as part of his scheduled commitment to the public hospital he is not normally charged a rent in respect of this element of his practice. Consultants do not have a contractual right to use hospital facilities to see private patients outside their scheduled commitment.
In certain circumstances a hospital may enter into an agreement with a consultant for the use of hospital-owned accommodation to see private patients. For example, some hospitals may have surplus accommodation which can be used for this purpose. In some locations there may not be suitable clinical accommodation available off the hospital site and the hospital may wish to enter into an arrangement with a consultant to use hospital facilities after public hours.
As there is likely to be considerable variation in the nature of these arrangements as well as the standard of accommodation available there is no standard basis for the calculation of such rents and the information sought by the Deputy is not available to my Department.
