Dr. Maev-Ann Wren:

We have not addressed that issue directly in our research. We have not looked at the specific way in which it is proposed in Sláintecare. Much has been written and researched at the ESRI about the effects of the co-existence of public and private care within public hospitals. Clearly, private practice in public hospitals has an effect on public waiting lists and there is a body of research that supports that view. However, we have not looked specifically at what the consequences would be of implementing the policy in that way.