Private hospitals should have learnt to clean up their act

IN RECENT times the caretaker government and the HSE have done trojan work and showed courage in very difficult circumstances. They said at the start of this pandemic that we are all in this together and everyone will be treated equally and will have access to free testing and treatment in matters relating to the coronavirus.

On July 1 this promise fell by the wayside when the private hospitals started charging private patients up to €275 for a temperature test and questionnaire and/or a Covid-19 swab test when presenting for diagnostic tests or surgery.

When questioned by journalists, the Private Hospitals Association said private hospitals were forced to incur extra costs to meet stringent new public health guidelines including deep cleaning, the use of PPE and testing patients for Covid-19 before they can be treated, and that these costs should, in principle, be absorbed by the health insurers.

Is it too much to expect that after the appalling MRSA crisis some years ago these hospitals would have introduced hygiene practices of a high enough standard to protect patients? The reality is, if the health insurers agree to pay this charge it will be passed on to all health insurance customers and it is they who will be paying for the cleaning of the hospitals and supply of PPE.

It is worth noting that patients can avail of a Covid test only if their GP suspects they have the virus. It cannot be used for checking if patients entering private hospitals are free of Covid-19.

The new Government should now insist that private hospitals take responsibility for cleaning their own premises and for supplying PPE to their staff, and it should pay the small charge for temperature checking and/or swabs just as it does for public patients in public hospitals.

The disappointment to learn that we are not all in this together is immense. Marie Travers Dublin 4