Ciara Conway (Waterford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ministers, Mr. O'Brien and his staff for their attendance. I have some supplementary questions to those I submitted about the establishment and progress of the hospital groups. The response to my questions provided details about the appointment of chairpersons and the ongoing recruitment of the chief executive officers. My predominant concern is about the hospital group for the south west and what it will mean for Waterford Regional Hospital. I refer to the difficulties associated with the recruitment of non-consultant hospital doctors and the difficulty in retaining them. I am also concerned that consultant posts are not being filled in a timely manner. I ask what is the national situation. The IMO indicates it is concerned that it is becoming more difficult to attract consultants particularly in the perceived high-risk areas of maternity services, for example. There seems to be a great number of vacant consultant posts in Waterford Regional Hospital. The model of care to which we aspire is a consultant-led model but some specialties in the hospital have no permanent consultant. At one time, the ophthalmology department under Dr. Condon at Waterford Regional Hospital was one of the leading departments in the country. Currently, the hospital has no permanent consultant in that specialty. This is a concern.

I am pleased to note that an additional seven posts will be given to the Waterford Regional Hospital team. We were told that the hospital grouping proposal would mean that consultants would deliver the service as close as possible to the patients concerned. However, in the past six months, outreach maternity services have ceased as have ophthalmology outreach services. I understand these services are to be reinstated in January and this is welcome. However, this is in direct contrast to what we were told would result from the establishment of hospital groups.

I have spoken at the committee meetings on many occasions about retrieving moneys from private health insurance companies. I note that the chief financial officer, Mr. O'Byrne, has taken a personal interest in this matter and he has a team which is focusing on improving the submission of claims. However, €150 million is outstanding from private health insurance companies. This amount would fund the National Ambulance Service five times over. A total of €98 million is awaiting payment from insurance companies with €52 million pending. That is a considerable sum in light of the service plan and the difficulties associated with its provision which we discussed just 48 hours ago. This is revenue owing to the HSE and I ask what more can be done to ensure it is collected. We must ensure that money is reclaimed. In cases where insurance companies do not pay out, the bills are the cause of great distress for the patients. I presume Mr. O'Byrne is attending the meeting of the Committee of Public Accounts. He spoke about health insurance companies requiring photographs of patients on beds to be submitted with claims. Has this practice been addressed? Can we ensure that money owed to the public purse is paid in a timely manner?