There are warnings that hospitals could be overwhelmed by a “tsunami” of non-covid cases if the health service does not return to normal in the near future.
The government’s deal to take over a number of private hospitals, in order to boost available bed capacity, has seen swathes of appointments and procedures cancelled, affecting private patients.
The comes despite the majority of beds in private hospitals lying empty.
At the outset of the COVID-19 crisis, the Department of Health struck a deal to temporarily take charge of 19 private hospitals to gain access to 2,000 additional beds.
As of now though, the additional private beds have been largely unused, with only a third of beds occupied, according to Minister Simon Harris.
But the work of private hospitals has shut down, with swathes of procedures and appointments cancelled.
Some private patients, who’ve paid for insurance, have now been told they’ll have to go to the public system for care
Clare’s Fianna Fáil TD Cathal Crowe outlined one such case in the Dáil last evening.
As part of the deal, up to 600 doctors who work exclusively in the private sector were offered locum contracts under which they could only see public patients.
Around a quarter of those have accepted the contracts, and some of the rest say the time has come for them to be allowed to go back to work.
Joe Sparkes from Shannon is an orthopaedic surgeon in the Bon Secours Barrington’s Hospital, Limerick and at Galway Clinic, who spoke on Clare FM’s Morning Focus about how some feel that there is a political agenda involved in this deal.
Minister Simon Harris says there will be a continuing need for additional bed capacity, even if it’s not needed now.
He added that private hospital capacity will be used to deal with ‘ongoing urgent work’ and the backlog in elective care, as well as to guard against a future COVID-19 surge.
Brian McLoughlin, Clare FM, first for local news.
