Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Question 208: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the details of the bed designation system that applies in the acute hospital system including the number of beds designated for public use and the number for private use; if she will give details of the actual public and private patient mix for each of the years 2007, 2008, 2009 and to date in 2010; and the estimated loss to the Health Service Executive arising from the organisation not being permitted to charge for accommodation costs in respect of private patients who occupy beds designated for public use. [31373/10]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
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Although patients may be treated in public hospitals on a private basis, the core purpose of the public hospital system is to provide services for all patients under the statutory eligibility provisions. All persons ordinarily resident in Ireland have full eligibility for hospital services, meaning that there is universal access to public hospital care. The fact that a person may have private health insurance does not take away from his/her eligibility for services as a public patient. Care is needed to ensure that a perceived need to generate income does not operate to the detriment of service provision to public patients. The primary objective must be to avoid an excessive ratio of private practice within public hospitals and, subject to that being achieved, to recover whatever income is due in respect of that level of private practice.

The consultant contract 2008 includes new rules on the extent of private practice permitted and new measures to ensure these rules are complied with. These contractual features complement existing bed designation rules as part of the overall framework to control the level of private activity in publicly funded hospitals. Under the Health (In-Patient) Regulations 1991, beds in public hospitals are categorised as public, private or non-designated. Under these regulations no private patient may be accommodated in a designated public bed, except in certain emergency cases. The regulations contain reciprocal provisions regarding the accommodation of public patients in beds designated as private.

The national average number of acute hospital beds available in public hospitals in 2007, the latest year for which validated data has been compiled by the HSE was 13,688. The HSE data indicates that 10,279 were categorised as public, 2,471 were categorised as private and the remainder as non-designated. My Department has requested the HSE to provide corresponding information in respect of 2008 and 2009 to the Deputy as soon as validated data is available.

The HSE Performance Reports indicate that the percentage mix of activity in acute hospitals in 2007 was 75.1% public to 24.9% private and in 2008 was 74.1% public to 25.9% private. The corresponding figure for 2009, the latest year for which data is currently available, stood at 75.5% public to 24.5% private. The public/private acute hospital activity ratio target in the National Service Plan for 2010 is 80:20. The HSE is working to ensure that this target is achieved and the terms of the consultant contract are complied with at individual consultant level.