Mr. Brian Fitzgerald:

I thank the Chairman and the committee for their invitation. I have worked for over 25 years in management in the Irish health care system in the public and private settings. This committee should give serious consideration to planning a health care system based on all capacity available in public and private settings. I am not referring only to private hospitals but to all infrastructure. For example, on any main street in the country one will find private sector operators such as general practitioners, pharmacists, dentists, ophthalmologists, wellness providers and many other health care businesses, nursing homes, etc. Too often there is an ideological debate regarding the existence of private health care which is narrowly focused on private hospitals. Health care in Ireland is an ecosystem with many intertwined operators.

My organisation, Beacon Hospital, employs just under 1,000 staff and contributes significantly to the economy, for example, we pay approximately €25 million a year in income tax. Over 90% of staff working in private hospitals were trained in the public system and a fair proportion work in both systems. Front-line staff should be commended on their work in both systems and many deliberately choose a career of diversity. They are agnostic on whether they work in the public or private system because their main work ethic is focused on providing safe, effective care to their patients in contemporary facilities. Without the option of working in the private system I suspect many front-line staff would leave for new shores. I am satisfied that the medical care provided to patients in the private system is of equal clinical efficacy to that in the public system. The committee may know that private hospitals are subject to external accreditation. Private hospitals must hold a valid accreditation certificate to receive funding from health insurers and to be a member of the association. This is not the case for public hospitals. For example, recently Beacon Hospital successfully completed its fourth triannual cycle of external accreditation audit and was awarded a performance score of 99.4% across 1,200 measurable elements, which I understand is one of the highest scores ever.

In recent weeks we have read about, and are acutely aware of, the capacity challenges being faced daily in the public health care sector. The private system has capacity and is part of the solution to these constraints. In my previous role I frequently availed of services provided by the private system to solve capacity constraints. In future there is ample opportunity for the public and private systems to collaborate and provide innovative cost-effective solutions for the provision of health care to all citizens.

In conclusion, I recommend that the committee consider establishing a task force to explore innovative, cost-effective private sector capacity utilisation, absorb the fact that Ireland is an ecosystem of public and private providers. A private health care system is a significant contributor to the economy. In my experience, front-line staff trained in the public system seek diversity of employment and the private system provides a solution to the problem of staff retention. The private system is and should be accredited. That is a standard we have to meet.