Harney defends plans to build private hospitals

Tánaiste and Minister for Health, Mary Harney has defended her plan to co-locate private hospitals on the grounds of public hospitals, saying patients would benefit hugely from the scheme.

In a speech tonight to open the Progressive Democrat's annual party conference in Limerick, Ms Harney said she was determined that the private and public sector will work together in co-located facilities.

She said the policy would free up public beds for public patients and ultimately increase the number of beds in the system.

"Patients will benefit because the State will be able to purchase services for public patients," she said. Ms Harney said all evidence suggests that the private sector is ready to invest in private bed capacity and she expected an invitation to the market "very shortly".

Ms Harney's comments come in the wake of criticism of her plan by several speaker at the annual meeting of the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) yesterday on the grounds that it did not represent an "evidence-based" approach to health policy.

In her speech, the Tánaiste said: "The running cost of private beds in public hospitals is currently subsidised by the State by about 40 per cent. Some of the income received for private treatment goes to hospitals. The rest goes to consultants in private fees."

She claimed the Government was effectively running state-funded hospitals "like airplanes with business class; and with the pilots getting a special fee for each business class customer, whether or not they sit in a business class seat." She said the aim was to take away some of those reserved business class seats, and get the private sector to fund them.

She dismissed recent suggestions by the Labour Party that the policy represented further privatisation of the health service. She questioned how the creation of new public beds could be labeled as privatisation.

Ms Harney said it was not privatisation to offer the opportunity to the private sector to finance and manage more private beds and private hospital services. "Nor is not privatisation to cease the practice whereby 20 per cent of new public beds built with public capital are reserved for private use," she said.

Ms Harney also insisted the current crisis in system was not simply a question of resources. "If all that is needed is more resources, we would have the answer already. There have already been massive increases in resources. And there will be more resources in future to accompany reform," she said.

She urged all those involved in health service to move beyond the call for more resources and to implement solutions for patients through better use of resources.

Ms Harney warned the rules and work practices which applied in the past to the health service have to be reformed also. "The bottom line for all of us is that no old person should have to sleep overnight on a trolley in a corridor. This has to stop and I am determined that it will," she said.

Hundreds of delegates at  the three-day event in Limerick will also debate several motions including the controversial prospect of a pre-election pact with Fianna Fail.

Minister for Justice Michael McDowell and Dublin South TD Liz O'Donnell are due to speak in a debate on election strategy at the conference tomorrow.

Another motion to be debated, from the PD national executive, calls for electronic voting to be abandoned because it says there is nothing wrong with the current system.

Dun Laoghaire TD Fiona O'Malley has also proposed a motion calling the Government to address the 'alarming inaccuracies' in the voting register by introducing a new system based on PPS numbers.

Finance guru Eddie Hobbs is the guest speaker at tonight's leader's dinner. Health Service Executive chief executive Prof Brendan Drumm and One in Four founder and director Colm O'Gorman are due to speak on the subject of health service reform at the conference.

Additional Reporting: PA