Healthcare scramble as private hospitals reopen
:: New guidelines for crèches but no detail on financial supports
DOCTORS are expecting a major surge in patients whose treatment has been on hold for months following the decision by the Government to scrap the controversial takeover of private hospitals.
The surprise decision not to renew the €115m-a-month deal after the end of June means that normal private practice can resume in the hospitals from July.
Dr Stephen Frohlich, an intensive care consultant in the Beacon Hospital, welcomed the decision and said private hospitals would likely work seven days a week to clear the backlog of patients that had built up.
“We will work much longer hours and Saturday and Sunday, which will become normal working days,” he said.
It comes as crèches have been issued with a raft of new coronavirus guidelines, but no detail on financial supports childcare providers insist they need to reopen.
DOCTORS are expecting a surge in patients whose treatments and diagnosis have been on hold for months following the decision by the Government to scrap the takeover of private hospitals.
Many private patients have had investigations for cancer or heart procedures delayed following the confusion which followed the acquisition of the 19 hospitals by the State from March, as the country faced the threat of a tsunami of patients with the coronavirus.
In a surprise move, the Cabinet yesterday agreed not to renew the existing deal costing around €115m a month from the end of June.
It instead opted for an arrangement where the State has the power to take control of the private hospitals’ intensive care beds and other wards, if needed, during the pandemic.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said yesterday: “We didn’t need to use the private hospitals to the extent that we thought we might.
“We very much stand over the decision to take control of private hospitals back in March. It was the right thing to do and we have made some good use of them since then, but certainly nothing approaching the level of use that we thought we might have required.”
The decision was welcomed by around 600 private hospital consultants last night, who said they were very concerned about the impact on their patients.
Dr Cróchán O’Sullivan, a consultant cardiologist in the Bons Secours Hospital in Cork, said: “Procedures on patients which were put on hold can now take place again. We anticipate a big surge of patients from July.”
Under the deal, all patients, regardless of whether they had health insurance, were deemed public.
It created major confusion among GPs about referrals to specialists.
Around 600 fully private consultants were no longer able to be paid fees and they were offered a temporary work contract by the HSE.
Dr O’Sullivan was one of more than 460 private consultants who agreed to take a HSE work contract, but he was operating at a loss because he did not receive any support for the private rooms and staff he had previously.
He referenced the case of a patient who needed a heart valve replacement in order to go ahead to have surgery and chemotherapy, but it had to be postponed.
The patient would not survive an operation without the heart procedure.
Other patients needing biopsies for possible prostate cancer and diagnostic tests were also left in a limbo.
He said he would continue to see public patients who were referred to him by the HSE.
Dr Stephen Frohlich, an intensive care consultant in the Beacon Hospital, welcomed the decision by the Cabinet and said private hospitals would likely work seven days a week to clear the backlog of patients which had built up.
“We will work much longer hours and Saturday and Sunday, which will become normal working days.”
He said: “It is the right thing for patients. There are patients who have not been able to be seen since the end of March. There is a huge backlog of people who need to get their conditions diagnosed. They also include people who have had surgery deferred.”
It is expected that private hospitals will now revert to the pre-pandemic arrangement where they are outsourced public patients on waiting lists through the National Treatment Purchase Fund.
The Private Hospitals Association welcomed the decision and said the deal, combined with enormous commitment by the public, had helped combat Covid-19 and flatten the curve.
A spokesman said hospitals would now start the process of preparing for the full resumption of private care provision nationwide, from the beginning of July.
In the event of a potential second surge of Covid-19 over the coming months, it “reiterates its previous commitment to provide additional capacity to the State.
“The Irish Hospital Consultants Association said it will allow doctors to fully cater for the increased demand for urgent patient care which has been disrupted.”