Joe Behan (Wicklow, Independent)
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Question 218: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the terms of her contractual obligations in relation to the public use of privately operated beds in co-located hospitals in cases in which public beds are closed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8859/10]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
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The Renewed Programme for Government re-affirms the Government's commitment to the current co-location programme.

Preferred bidders have been selected for six co-located projects at Beaumont, Cork University, Limerick Regional, St. James's, Sligo and Waterford Regional Hospitals. Project agreements have been signed for the Beaumont, Cork, Limerick and St James's projects. Planning permission has been granted for these latter four projects. Two other projects are at earlier stages of the procurement process.

One of the requirements under the scheme of capital allowances is that a private hospital must ensure that at least 20% of its bed capacity can be made available to the HSE for the treatment of individuals awaiting in-patient or outpatient hospital services as public patients. In addition, the fees charged must not be more than 90% of the fees that would be charged for equivalent treatment provided to a patient with private medical insurance.

Detailed and innovative features will promote the public interest. Each site will have one emergency department. The private hospitals will facilitate medical training and research and development; accept direct admissions to medical and surgical admission units from primary care centres and general practitioners on a 24-hour basis, seven days a week; comply with physical design requirements to fit with the public hospital; have joint clinical governance, shared information and records management, performance management and documented service level agreements, where these are undertaken; and participate in the public HIPE and casemix information systems. While these obligations apply to the private hospital, the HSE (or public hospital) is not obliged in the project agreements to avail of bed capacity in the private hospital. However, it will be open to the HSE to enter into service level agreements for the use of capacity in the co-located facilities. This is intended to give the HSE (or the public hospital) the maximum flexibility in organising acute hospital services on the hospital campus.