Public hospitals may in future have to pay for treatment in the private sector for patients who have to wait on trolleys in accident and emergency departments for longer than the official maximum waiting period of 12 hours.
The chief executive of the Health Service Executive (HSE), Prof Brendan Drumm, signalled yesterday that his organisation would be moving to ensure hospitals and other service providers delivered on commitments set out in agreements.
He said that he could see a situation quite soon whereby patients who had to wait longer than the 12-hour maximum target period could be treated in facilities in the private sector.
Prof Drumm said that in such circumstances, the private hospital charges would be levied against the public hospital's budget.
He said such measures would apply to both public voluntary hospitals and those operated directly by the HSE itself.
Prof Drumm said that up to now, the HSE had managed its agreements with hospitals and other providers "relatively loosely".
However, it would be putting in place new performance measures across the hospital and community sectors within the next few months.
Prof Drumm said it would then be examining whether the HSE was receiving the services for which it had paid under agreements with hospitals and other providers.
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