A new private emergency clinic that opened yesterday in Dublin - staffed by consultants from the capital's main hospitals - represents a further significant development in private medical care in the State.
The centre is owned by Charter Medical, a private company, and is the State's first consultant-provided urgent care centre. It will take referrals from GPs and will cater for people who require urgent medical attention but do not need hospital admission.
The two medical directors of the new facility are Dr Eamonn Brazil of the Mater hospital and Dr Aidan Gleeson of Beaumont Hospital. A total of 10 consultants will operate the centre in Smithfield, near the city centre, six days a week.
Dr Brazil accepted that this could be seen as "yet another incidence of where you might think people who have money can access care quicker than people who don't have money".
He said, however, that he "would love to take public patients" to relieve pressure on A&E departments in Dublin hospitals but for this to happen the Health Service Executive (HSE) would have to negotiate a contract with Charter Medical.
Dr Brazil said the reality was that we have a two-tier system and that "the country relies heavily on the private sector to help the public sector".
He didn't believe it was "any coincidence" that the only area of care where there had not been a private alternative up to now - A&E - was where there had been most problems.
Both he and Dr Gleeson stressed that they and other emergency consultants working in A&E departments worked "well above our contracted hours" of 33 hours a week.
They pointed out that all consultants employed in public hospitals were allowed to do private practice.
Dr Brazil added: "I have a department up the road [ the Mater] that is grossly overcrowded, I don't even have the space to examine patients. This [Charter Medical] is not for all patients, but at least it is a choice for some patients."
He pointed out that there were only three emergency consultants employed in the Mater.
"People have to understand that overcrowding in A&E departments is caused by admitted patients being left in our clinical area because there are no beds for them - these are admitted patients under the care of other consultants.
"There is nothing A&E can do to negate the lack of capacity in the system," according to Dr Gleeson.
He said a private clinic could not solve the problems in public A&E departments but it was offering patients a choice. It has the capacity to treat up to 100 patients a day and facilities include X-ray, ultrasound, CT, MRI and laboratory services. It will not treat children under 14.
Dr Gleeson said the centre would welcome a contract with the HSE to treat public patients and that it was also "extremely important" that priority be given to resourcing public A&E departments properly.
The Charter urgent care centre will open 8am-8pm Monday to Friday, and 10am-6pm on Saturday.