Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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729. To ask the Minister for Health if an examination has commenced on compliance with consultants' contracts in which they work part of their time in HSE publicly-funded hospitals; the arrangements in place to ensure that consultants who are expected to work a certain amount of hours actually do so; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54595/17]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Section 20 of the 2008 Consultant Contract gives the employer of the consultant full authority to take all necessary steps to ensure a Consultant's practice shall not exceed the agreed ratio of public to private practice. Responsibility for reporting individual consultant compliance was devolved to the Hospital Groups in 2014. The main reason for this is to ensure local accountability. Hospitals know their consultants and the work they deliver.

I have asked the HSE to ensure that more robust measures are in place in 2018 to make sure all consultants comply with their contractual obligations. My Department is working closely with the HSE to find a solution to ensure compliance is monitored more effectively and remedial action pursued where required.

On 21 December the Director General advised the Secretary General of the structures currently in place in the context of the HSE's Performance Accountability Framework with monthly performance meetings between the Hospital Groups and their individual hospitals and the expectation that Groups review public/private mix and consultant contract compliance as part of the monthly engagement. He also advised that further assurance processes with the Groups were being put in place to confirm contract compliance, including written annual confirmation that: reports are provided to consultants monthly, there is appropriate review by the clinical director, processes are in place locally to determine compliance with contracted hours.

My Department has also engaged with the HSE in response to some broader issues which the HSE has raised concerning oversight of the contract, including the impact of the Health (Amendment) Act 2013 and the need for hospitals to collect private patient income. However, the HSE has already been advised that those issues do not affect the implementation of measures required to ensure robust governance and monitoring of compliance with the contractual provisions applicable to consultants engaging in private practice, with remedial action pursued where required. A meeting between my Department and the HSE on the immediate requirements regarding monitoring of compliance at the individual consultant level and the broader issues is to take place shortly.

I have also established an independent group, chaired by Dr. Donal de Buitléir, to examine the impact of separating private practice from the public hospital system. This Group has now commenced its work and is to conclude by the end of next summer. This was one of the key recommendations of the Sláintecare Report.