Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael)
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607. To ask the Minister for Health if he is engaging with private hospitals in the context of rising Covid-19 hospitalisations and ICU capacity; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [57122/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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A safety net arrangement with private hospitals is in place which can be triggered depending on certain metrics regarding the level of Covid infection in the community or levels of hospitalisation, including ICU occupancy due to Covid. The agreement runs to the end of January 2022. The arrangement allows the HSE to invoke the agreement to access guaranteed levels of between 15% and 30% of the private hospitals' capacity, depending on the metrics, to treat those in need of time dependent urgent care.

An arrangement along similar lines was put in place in response to the ransomware cyber-attack.

The HSE has advised that the 18 private hospitals have an overall capacity of 2,146 beds. The volume available to the public sector with access to 15% of private hospital capacity would therefore be 322 beds and 644 beds at 30%.

The additional capacity provided by the private hospitals is critical to enabling the public health system cope with large scale surges in the incidences of the disease. It is intended to use the capacity of the private hospitals for urgent, time-dependant and complex care.

The HSE also has a separate procurement arrangement with private hospitals to provide acute services and diagnostics. This is required to address some of the anticipated shortfalls in capacity arising from Covid-19 measures over the next couple of years.

Private hospital facilities are regularly used by the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) to provide extra capacity for public patients for elective care.