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News: Private Healthcare

All entries for Private Healthcare

Private work in breach

Gary Culliton | 12 March 2010

Alarming breaches of the private practice provisions of the consultant contract are revealed in a new report seen by IMT. The figures show that many consultants are in gross breach of their contracts with the HSE. The HSE report reveals... Read more

Cost of a private bed rockets in Category 1

Gary Culliton | 03 March 2010

The charge for a private bed in a Category 1 hospital has rocketed from €274.52 per day in 2002 to €910 per day in 2009, a new report shows. However, if the average cost is applied, increases ranging from a... Read more

St Luke’s pays out €1.3m refund to Vhi

Gary Culliton | 26 February 2010

Billing irregularities have led to a refund of €1.3 million by St Luke’s cancer hospital in Dublin to Vhi Healthcare, Irish Medical Times has learned. Vhi said that a billing review in August 2008 identified a number of ‘irregularities regarding... Read more

God is no impediment to co-location scheme

Dara Gantly | 16 February 2010

Dublin City Council (DCC) has given the go-ahead to demolish a late-nineteenth-century chapel on the St James’s Hospital campus to make way for the planned 196-bed co-located hospital. Synchrony Properties Ltd was granted permission by DCC late last month (January... Read more

Harney wants extra €75m from health insurers

Gary Culliton | 15 January 2010

The Minister for Health has demanded that public hospitals collect an additional E75 million from private health insurers in 2010, Irish Medical Times has learned. The new target was set out in a letter sent recently by Minister Mary Harney... Read more

Families could save €400 on health insurance premiums

Niamh Mullen | 01 December 2009

FAMILIES could save up to €400 on their health insurance premiums, the Health Insurance Authority (HIA) has said. It has started an online campaign to alert people to the savings they could make. It claims the majority of private health... Read more

20,000 have left VHI for competitors - Harney

Gary Culliton | 14 October 2009

A total of 20,000 people have switched from VHI to its competitors, Health Minister Mary Harney told the Oireachtas Health Committee last week. Quinn Healthcare’s share of the market has increased to 22 per cent while that of Hibernian has... Read more

Vhi capital issue must be tackled

Gary Culliton | 09 October 2009

Former VIVAS and VHI boss Oliver Tattan – who is reported to be seeking to buy State-owned Vhi Healthcare in conjunction with German giant Munich Re – has called on the Government to start a process which would address the... Read more

Touchstone plan 'excessive'

Dara Gantly | 21 September 2009

Dublin City Council (DCC) has been urged to reject a renewed planning application for a controversial four-storey over-basement primary care centre in Dunlin 12 by the Labour Party’s spokesperson on Arts, Sport and Tourism. Dublin South Central TD Mary Upton... Read more

Consultants over private limit in the mid-West

Gary Culliton | 03 September 2009

Private treatment at public hospitals in the mid-West greatly exceeds HSE targets, new figures show. The ratio of private activity at Croom is 55.6 per cent private and St John’s in Limerick it is 51.5 per cent private. The target... Read more

Private Cork hospital plan appealed

Gary Culliton | 28 August 2009

Appeals have been lodged with An Bord Pleanála against planning permission granted for Owen O’Callaghan’s proposed €80 million private hospital at Lancaster Quay in Cork. Graham O’Reilly, an employee and shop steward at Cork’s Mercy University Hospital (MUH), said the... Read more

Cancer treatment giant UPMC acquires majority stake in Beacon

Gary Culliton | 26 August 2009

The University of Pittsburgh Medical Centre (UPMC) has acquired majority ownership of Dublin’s independent Beacon Hospital, which has been renamed UPMC Beacon Hospital, part of UPMC’s 20-hospital network. The UPMC Beacon Cancer Centre, one of more than 40 cancer centres... Read more

Customers to report errors to Vhi

Mary Anne Kenny | 03 July 2009

Vhi Healthcare has asked its customers to act as a watchdog and help minimise the number of billing errors or cases of overcharging experienced by customers. On Monday, the company launched a Special Investigation Unit (SIU) and outlined how customers... Read more

Public hospitals now 'uneconomic' – VHI

Gary Culliton | 30 June 2009

VHI Healthcare is cutting fees paid to hospital consultants and GPs by five per cent, under a new agreement due to come into effect tomorrow. The insurer says it is now becoming 'uneconomic' to use private beds in public voluntary... Read more

New Cork private hospital clarification

26 June 2009

In an article in last week’s Irish Medical Times regarding the new private hospital in Cork developed by Sheehan Medical, it stated that Sheehan Medical currently runs the Blackrock and Galway Clinics. IMT wishes to clarify that Sheehan Medical has... Read more

Contractor named for new private hospital at St Vincent's, Elm Park

Dara Gantly | 22 June 2009

St Vincent’s Healthcare Group (SVHG) has named John Paul Construction as the main contractor for the construction of its new 260-bed private hospital. Located on the St Anthony’s site near the existing private hospital, the contract for the new 28,000... Read more

Go-ahead for 75 Cork beds

Terence Cosgrave | 18 June 2009

A new 75-bed private hospital will be operational in Cork by April 2010 – creating 350 jobs at the City Gate development in Mahon, Irish Medical Times can exclusively reveal. A deal has been signed by Sheehan Medical and the... Read more

Tax breaks for private hospitals to continue

Dara Gantly | 05 June 2009

The Minister for Health has clarified that developers of private hospitals will be able to avail of capital allowances as long as a valid application for full planning permission is submitted before the end of the year. The Minister for... Read more

Public hospitals fail private limit

Gary Culliton | 05 June 2009

Consultants based in public hospitals across the country are failing to meet private work restriction targets set in the new consultants’ Contract. The breaches are revealed in HSE statistics, which show huge variability in the proportion of consultants’ work taken... Read more

Decision on co-location in Cork due this week

Dara Gantly | 29 May 2009

A decision by An Bord Pleanála over the proposed 185-bed co-located private hospital at the Cork University Hospital is expected this week, Irish Medical Times has learned. This follows its decision earlier this week to grant permission to Beacon Medical... Read more

VHI 'paid out €30m more than it received in premium income'

Gary Culliton | 26 May 2009

VHI healthcare has said it paid out €30m more than it received in premium income for the ten month period ending December 2008. The insurer has reported a deficit of €65m, which compares with surplus of close to €63m for... Read more

Cost-efficiencies of PPPs questioned

Terence Cosgrave | 14 May 2009

The cost-efficiencies of public-private partnerships (PPPs) has been called into question by a Scottish academic who has said there is no evidence to back up cost-efficiency claims. David Price — a Senior Research Fellow in International Public Health Policy at... Read more

Charter Medical opens three new clinics in Smithfield

Gary Culliton | 12 May 2009

Three new clinics are opening at Charter Medical’s facility in Dublin’s Smithfield, including an emergency eye clinic, which is due to begin its business on June 1. The clinic, which will also deal with routine eye appointments, will aim to... Read more

HSE battles with Vhi over private patients

Gary Culliton | 10 May 2009

Patients who have private health insurance and who attend public hospitals have been identified as a risk to the HSE: they represent a potential saving of €50 million for private health insurers. This is because consultants who have opted for... Read more

Quinn to cover St Pat’s

Mary Anne Kenny | 05 May 2009

Quinn Healthcare and St Patrick’s Hospital have resolved contractual issues and renewed their agreement. The new agreement took effect on April 22 and covers all new and existing Quinn members in line with standard terms and conditions of their policies.... Read more

New 20-bed unit for Merlin Park

Dara Gantly | 20 April 2009

Local Galway firm Cordil Construction Ltd has been named as the company to construct a new 20-bed inpatient unit for child and adolescent psychiatric services at Merlin Park Hospital. St Anne’s unit will cost €5.755 million to build and will... Read more

National lab would mean faster swabs

Greg Baxter | 08 April 2009

A national laboratory should be set up to allow GPs to improve turnaround times on swab tests for infectious diseases, an infection control nurse at the Mater Private Hospital told Irish Medical Times. Ann Higgins, Assistant Director of Nursing Infection... Read more

Vhi urges Quinn patients to switch

Mary Anne Kenny | 08 April 2009

Vhi Healthcare has ann-ounced that it will provide immediate insurance for Quinn Healthcare customers who no longer have cover for St Patrick’s University Hospital in Dublin and St Edmundsbury Hospital in Lucan. The health insurer has called on Quinn Healthcare... Read more

UPMC 'still interested in co-location'

Gary Culliton | 01 April 2009

American firm UPMC has said it remains interested in working with the Beacon Medical Group towards the development of co-located hospitals in Ireland. “Like many other industry leaders, UPMC is not immune to the effects of the deteriorating economy," the... Read more

Merck buys Schering-Plough in $41.1 billion deal

Gary Culliton | 09 March 2009

Merck & Co. is buying Schering-Plough Corp. for $41.1 billion. The deal will unite the maker of asthma drug Singulair with the maker of allergy medicine Nasonex and form the world's second-largest prescription drugmaker. Acquiring Schering-Plough will add strength in... Read more

New facility planned for north Dublin

Dara Gantly | 06 March 2009

An application to develop a 90-bed nursing home/110-bed mental health facility on the Swords Road in Whitehall, Dublin has been registered with Dublin City Council. The 13,051sqm building works also includes a change of use to the existing three-storey Highfield... Read more

PwC chosen for Health Insurance Authority audit

Dara Gantly | 21 January 2009

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has been chosen by the Health Insurance Authority (HIA) to carry out an internal audit review of the Authority and its activities. The HIA received eight tenders to carry out the audit, which is required of all State... Read more

SwiftCare clinics treat 2,600 over Christmas

20 January 2009

VHI SwiftCare clinics treated over 2,600 patients during the festive season, according to recent figures. A total of 127 patients visited a SwiftCare clinic on Christmas Day, 358 were treated on St Stephen’s Day, 187 on Christmas Eve, 231 on... Read more

Six project management staff let go at Beacon

Gary Culliton | 15 January 2009

There have been six redundancies at Beacon Medical Group (BMG), which has signed project agreements for co-located hospitals at Limerick, Cork and Beaumont in Dublin. Planning permission for a maternity hospital in Dublin’s Sandyford has not been granted. Planning permission... Read more

Hibernian customers will be charged €160 levy

Gary Culliton | 19 December 2008

Hibernian Health, the health insurance arm of Hibernian Group, Ireland’s largest insurer, has announced it will not absorb the new government health insurance levy. Customers will be charged the €160 levy. Hibernian said it would formally challenge the Government’s "anti-consumer... Read more

Hibernian price promotion

Gary Culliton | 02 December 2008

Hibernian Health is to reduce prices by 10 per cent across all levels of cover for consumers who join on selected dates in December. This price promotion is open to anyone who commences cover on December 21st or 30th. Anyone... Read more

Blackrock can build bigger ICU

02 December 2008

The Blackrock Clinic can build a newer and larger intensive care unit, as it has received permission to do so from the local council. Early last month, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council gave it permission to build a single storey extension... Read more

VHI up 23 per cent, Quinn up 16 per cent

Gary Culliton | 28 November 2008

Young people who, faced with a choice between paying their mortgage or their health insurance, will have to choose the former, Fine Gael Health spokeperson Dr James Reilly has said. “Government actions in imposing a health insurance levy and increasing... Read more

Beacon says it is 'fully tax compliant'

Gary Culliton | 27 November 2008

Beacon Medical Group has said that the company and its subsidiary undertakings are fully tax compliant. In addition, the entities that have signed the Project Agreements for the three co-location hospitals at CUH, MWRH, and Beaumont are in receipt of... Read more

Coe opens 'world-class' sports medicine facility

Gary Culliton | 21 November 2008

A new €75 million ‘world-class’ hospital that brings together the expertise of consultants in Orthopaedics, Diagnostics and Sports Medicine in a purpose built clinic was officially opened this week by Lord Sebastian Coe, Chairman of the London 2012 Olympic Games.... Read more

Health Insurance changes criticised

Gary Culliton | 19 November 2008

Quinn Healthcare has said the dominant position of the VHI will be reinforced by health insurance changes announced yesterday. "This could have serious implications on the level of competition in the market which is not in the interests of health... Read more

ED consultants get payout

Dara Gantly | 17 October 2008

The Department of Health and Health Service Executive insist that its historic prohibition on private practice in emergency departments (EDs) remains in place, despite a recent ruling which found that consultants in emergency medicine had been deprived of opportunities... Read more

Health service staff increase by 39 per cent since 2000

Dara Gantly | 10 October 2008

Health has seen the largest jump in public service employees since the turn of the millennium, with a 38.8 per cent increase. In 2000, a total of 81,513 whole-time equivalents (WTEs) were employed in the health service. According to projected... Read more

Blackrock Clinic plans to extend its ICU

Ian McGuinness | 10 October 2008

The Blackrock Clinic is planning to expand its intensive care unit. The company behind it — Blackrock Clinic Limited — applied to Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council in September. The reconfiguration will involve the demolition of a single-storey building (which contains... Read more

Opposition to Cork co-location grows

Gary Culliton | 25 September 2008

A number of groups have announced their intention to step up their campaign against co-locating private hospitals on public hospital sites. Ahead of this week’s planning inquiry in Cork, the Campaign for a Real Public Health Service says the plan... Read more

Bupa surplus falls by £156.5 million

Gary Culliton | 24 September 2008

Bupa, Britain’s largest private medical insurance provider, saw its half-year pre-tax surplus fall by just over nine per cent to £156.5 million, largely due to its decision to quit the Irish market last year. The organisation, which as a provident... Read more

Hibernian opens ‘express’ urgent care centre

Mary Anne Kenny | 17 September 2008

Hibernian Health has launched its new Xpress Med Urgent Care Centre in Dublin’s city centre, which it claims is ‘the first consultant-led alternative to A&E in Ireland’. Since Monday, people aged four and over who need emergency care for minor... Read more

Beacon launch website for the obese

Gary Culliton | 16 September 2008

Celebrity chef Derry Clarke this week helped launch Beacon Hospital’s new website on obesity in conjunction with the hospital’s new weight-loss surgery programme. Beacon Hospital is the first full-service independent hospital in Ireland to offer weight-loss surgery. The website, www.obesityireland.ie,... Read more

UPMC to open 25 new cancer centres in EU and the Middle East

Gary Culliton | 08 September 2008

The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center wants to build 25 new cancer centres in Europe and the Middle East in the next decade, which would be similar to UPMC’s two facilities in Ireland. UPMC’s executive vice president Chuck Bogosta says... Read more

Polish company opens clinic in Waterford and has plans for more

Gary Culliton | 05 September 2008

Polish medical company EMC opened a new clinic in Waterford last week, and plans are afoot for an operating theatre on Parnell Square as well as more new premises in Dublin and Galway. Unlike the Parnell Square centre, the Waterford... Read more

Trim care home opens

Gary Culliton | 04 September 2008

Barchester has opened its first care home in Ireland. The Knightsbridge Village, situated in Trim, County Meath, offers a choice of living options, from a residential care home with nursing care to housing and apartments for independent living. Knightsbridge Village... Read more

Beacon: new scanner to lessen radiation

Gary Culliton | 01 September 2008

An 83 per cent reduction in radiation dose for cardiac CT patients is claimed following the launch of the LightSpeed VCT XT Scanner at Dublin’s Beacon Hospital. The first patients were treated with the newly upgraded scanner at Beacon on... Read more

ACS patient claims she did not get follow-up care

Gary Culliton | 31 July 2008

A total of 12 to 14 people who have been subject to gastric banding procedures in Leeds, Belgium, London and at Dublin’s Advanced Cosmetic Surgery (ACS, which is now in liquidation) now have to get treatment at Dublin’s Weight Management... Read more

Dublin 4 medical centre appealed to An Bord Pleanála

Ian McGuinness | 30 July 2008

An attempt to get planning permission for a medical centre and pharmacy in Dublin 4 has failed, but has been appealed to An Bord Pleanála. The applicants — James Byrne, Michael McElligot, Peter Crowley and Neill Hughes — asked Dublin... Read more

Touchstone's planning problems delay centre

Ian McGuinness | 29 July 2008

Touchstone Healthcare’s initiative to build a primary care centre in Tipperary has run into planning difficulties, with appeals being made against Thurles Town Council’s decision to grant permission for the proposed development. While one appeal was declared invalid by An... Read more

Vhi examines solvency issue

Gary Culliton | 25 July 2008

Vhi Healthcare is now examining ‘various other sources of funding, including but not limited to reinsurance’, as last week’s Supreme Court risk equalisation (RE) decision dealt a body blow to the insurer’s solvency situation. The VHI Amendment Act stipulates that... Read more

No money, no co-location

Gary Culliton | 25 July 2008

Beacon Medical Group’s co-located hospital at the Mid-West Regional in Limerick is the first in the country to get a final grant of planning permission, after two appeals to An Bord Pleanála – one involving Socialist Party leader Joe Higgins... Read more

Risk equalisation should be set aside: Supreme Court

Gary Culliton | 16 July 2008

The Government’s risk equalisation scheme for private health insurance is based on an incorrect interpretation of the law and should be set aside, the Supreme Court has ruled.
 Today’s Supreme Court decision has set aside the decision of Justice McKechnie... Read more

Vhi boss confident of seeing off competitors

Sandra Ryan | 06 July 2008

Sandra Ryan speaks to Mr Jimmy Tolan, Chief Executive of Vhi Healthcare, about the changes taking place in the health insurance market. New Vhi Healthcare Chief Executive Jimmy Tolan, who throughout our interview is admirably pleasant and talkative, doesn’t change... Read more

Hermitage set to expand?

Gary Culliton | 03 July 2008

The Hermitage Medical Clinic in Lucan, Co. Dublin is hoping to build a $5 million (€3.2 million) children’s health clinic, in conjunction with US firm, Sanford Health. “Having met with management at Hermitage Clinic, Sanford is very interested in developing... Read more

Vhi to open new clinics in Cork and Waterford

03 July 2008

Vhi Healthcare will open two more of its SwiftCare Clinics this autumn, in Waterford and Cork.The two new facilities will create approximately 60 new jobs by the end of the year, and will follow the same model as the existing... Read more

New independent hospital to open

Gary Culliton | 01 July 2008

Construction has begun on the north west’s first independent hospital. The 75-bed Wyndale Clinic, near Letterkenny General Hospital, will be open to both public and private patients. It will offer certain specialities that are not available in the region currently,... Read more

Private Emergency Department opens

Gary Culliton | 25 June 2008

The Hermitage Clinic in Lucan has opened an Emergency Department (ED). An initial consultation will cost €120, which the patient will pay up-front, though it will be partly reclaimable. The private hospital has circulated 400 local GPs with details of... Read more

ACS doctor quits Ireland

Gary Culliton | 20 June 2008

A major row has erupted between the doctor who performed the Advanced Cosmetic Surgery gastric banding operation – following which a woman died – and a top specialist. Speaking from Paris, Dr Jerome Manuceau told Irish Medical Times that methods... Read more

Patients should pay up for care

Greg Baxter | 20 June 2008

Patients should expect to pay for a percentage of their healthcare treatment, depending on how much they earn, according to Prof Floyd Loop, founder of the Cleveland Clinic in the US, who was a keynote speaker at a health conference... Read more

Premium payments for patients

Emer Mullins | 17 June 2008

Emer Mullins writes about how American doctors are charging a premium to provide VIP services for some of their patients. Some Americans, fed up with being treated poorly by their healthcare providers, are paying premiums to their family doctors for... Read more

Continued concern over psychiatric units

Sandra Ryan | 11 June 2008

The Mental Health Commission have raised serious concerns about a number of psychiatric hospitals and units, which they say remain particularly affected by last year’s Health Service Executive’s recruitment freeze. They estimate 460 posts are still unfilled. In the Commission’s... Read more

Beaumont permission for Beacon Medical

Ian McGuinness | 16 May 2008

Beacon Medical Limited has been granted planning permission for its proposed co-located hospital at Beaumont, although one condition attached to the decision said it must pay nearly €5 million to Dublin City Council before construction begins. The condition stated €4,904,856... Read more

Hermitage gets 31 more beds in planning decision

Ian McGuinness | 15 May 2008

Hermitage Medical Developments Limited has won the right to add another 31 beds to its medical clinic on the Old Lucan Road in Dublin but it cannot create the extra 77 car parking spaces that it wanted. The company was... Read more

Health plan takeover

30 April 2008

HSF Health Plan, a Co Clare-based not-for-profit health cash plan operator, has bought the Irish business of UK operator, HSA, for an undisclosed sum. HSF Health Plan currently has over 100,000 Irish customers and provides a cash sum for claims... Read more

Nursing home beds are becoming more private

Greg Baxter | 11 April 2008

Private nursing home beds now outnumber public beds at a rate of almost two to one, and while the total number of beds has increased significantly, so has the average weekly rate. According to the Annual Private Nursing Home Study... Read more

Co-location offers chance of providing teaching services

Ian McGuinness | 09 April 2008

Co-located hospitals present another opportunity for consultants to provide teaching services and research, a prominent consultant obstetrician/ gynaecologist has claimed. Prof John Higgins, Consultant in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Cork University Maternity Hospital and UCC Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology,... Read more

Beacon Group to pay €20m for sewer

Gary Culliton | 28 March 2008

Beacon Medical Group has indicated it is prepared to make ‘planning contributions’ to fund the €20m cost of constructing a new Sandyford sewer in south Dublin, which would allow its proposed €160m new children’s and maternity hospital to proceed. Beacon... Read more

'Referendum may be needed': bomb hoax clinic

Gary Culliton | 10 March 2008

The Chairman of one of the Fertility Clinics at the centre of a hoax bomb alert, has said a referendum may be needed to get clarity on the status of frozen embryos, which he said were currently in a legal... Read more

Progress on hospital co-location

26 February 2008

The Minister for Finance, Deputy Brian Cowen, told Labour health spokesperson Deputy Jan O’Sullivan last week (Lab-Limerick East) that progress on the Government’s hospital co-location project was continuing. Waterford Regional Hospital, Cork University Hospital, Limerick Regional Hospital, Sligo Regional Hospital,... Read more

Kilkenny dialysis clinic to be delayed

Ian McGuinness | 26 February 2008

Plans for a renal dialysis clinic in Kilkenny have been delayed after a decision to grant planning permission was appealed to An Bord Pleanála. Last August, Fresenius Medical Care (Ireland) Limited applied to Kilkenny Borough Council for permission to change... Read more

Blackrock announces €100m expansion plans

By Sandra Ryan | 20 February 2008

The Blackrock clinic has announced a five-year, €100 million expansion plan that will see a 42 per cent increase in beds at the private hospital, as well as two new operating theatres and a multi-story car park. The expansion will... Read more

Bidders tender for Tallaght

Gary Culliton | 19 February 2008

Invitations to tender for construction and operation of the Tallaght co-located hospital are due to issue this week. Tenders will be invited from two preferred bidders, Beacon Medical Group (BMG) and the Synchrony consortium, which won the co-location contract at... Read more

Proposed new Beacon hospital under threat

Gary Culliton | 19 February 2008

The proposed new €160 million Beacon Medical Group Women’s, Children, and Maternity Hospital at Sandyford in Dublin faces considerable delays following a warning from Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council that planning permission will not be granted for any major developments... Read more

Surgery risk for the obese

Gary Culliton | 14 February 2008

A top surgeon has warned that high-risk oesophageal and gastric surgery will increasingly be performed in private clinics which lack the necessary back-up facilities for such operations putting patients at risk. Prof John Reynolds who is Professor of Surgery at... Read more

BUPA loses legal challenge to risk equalisation

Sandra Ryan | 12 February 2008

BUPA Ireland (now Quinn-healthcare) has lost its legal challenge against the introduction of a risk-equalisation scheme that would see Irish health insurers pay compensation to VHI Healthcare for its older and therefore more expensive client base. The European Court of... Read more

VHI claims up 87 per cent over ten years

06 February 2008

The number of medical claims paid by the VHI between 1996 and 2006 increased by 87 per cent, according to the organisation’s medical director, Dr Bernadette Carr. “Over a 10-year period the number of medical claims which we have paid... Read more

VIVAS merger with Hibernian remains under speculation

By Sandra Ryan | 06 February 2008

Reports of a merger between VIVAS Health and Hibernian Insurance remain unconfirmed by either party, despite strong indications that the latter has made a bid to take a controlling stake in VIVAS. A spokesperson for VIVAS declined to comment on... Read more

VHI defends stance on co-location

Sandra Ryan | 01 February 2008

The VHI has strongly refuted claims that it is holding up the Government’s co-location plan by not committing to provide cover for the private hospitals. A spokesperson for the VHI told Irish Medical Times it is ‘senseless’ to talk about... Read more

Beacon application for cross-country expansion

Ian McGuinness | 25 January 2008

Specific details contained in three planning applications for co-located hospitals, which were submitted by Beacon Medical Limited, have been published by local authorities. At the Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Dooradoyle, the company has applied to Limerick County Council for permission... Read more

Co-located hospital plans hit by insurers

Sandra Ryan | 18 January 2008

The VHI has been accused of jeopardising the government’s co-located hospital plan by refusing to commit to providing insurance cover to the new private hospitals. VIVAS Health CEO Mr Oliver Tattan said the building and funding of the private hospitals... Read more

Private care home plans halted by ‘overbearing impact’ assessment

Ian McGuinness | 11 January 2008

Touchstone’s plans to develop its next primary care centre in Dublin received a serious setback after An Bord Pleanála refused permission for it to proceed with the development. A company called HHN Developments Drimnagh Limited applied to Dublin City Council... Read more

Private hospital plan granted then appealed

Ian McGuinness | 02 November 2007

A decision to grant conditional permission for the construction of a private hospital in Letterkenny has been appealed to An Bord Pleanála by the applicant. Northwest Healthcare Limited applied to Letterkenny Town Council in June for permission to construct the... Read more

Doctor slams State-subsidised healthcare

Greg Baxter | 26 October 2007

Roughly 50,000 patients have been treated in Vhi SwiftCare Clinics since the first clinic opened two years ago. The new clinic in Swords, Vhi’s third, was opened by the Minister for Health last week and is already recording up to... Read more

Work rule may disrupt maternity services

Ian McGuinness | 26 October 2007

Restricting the private practice of maternity hospital consultants to 20 per cent of their workload will have immediate implications, the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) has warned. The union’s Director of Industrial Relations, Mr Fintan Hourihan, said the issue was raised... Read more

Quinn to increase its fees in order to match the Vhi schedule

Greg Baxter | 05 October 2007

Quinn Healthcare has announced it will increase the fees it pays consultants for procedures to match the prices Vhi has listed in its 2007 schedule of fees, which was published in June. Quinn will pay those fees retrospectively from July,... Read more

Co-location will not increase beds

Greg Baxter | 07 September 2007

The co-location scheme will not increase private capacity, and the two hospitals will operate under as joint clinical governance structure, the Health Service Executive (HSE) has stated. HSE Assistant National Director Mr Tom Finn has stated: “the co-location policy simply... Read more

Battling against the spin

Greg Baxter | 07 September 2007

An unofficial briefing document linked to the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO), which details the history behind the introduction of the public-private mix, attempts to set the record straight on the real reasons the health service, hospitals, insurers and consultants all... Read more

Canada: CMA calls for boost in private healthcare

Emer Mullins | 10 August 2007

The Canadian Medical Association (CMA) has said provincial governments should hire private-sector firms to deliver publicly-funded healthcare services to prevent delays for necessary treatments. Association president Colin McMillan said Canadians needed timely access to medical services and the private sector... Read more

Health insurance is market-dependent

Greg Baxter | 10 August 2007

The introduction of universal health insurance, if it ever happens, will have to wait until the health insurance market matures and there are more major players competing, the Chief Executive Officer of VIVAS told Irish Medical Times. “To have universal... Read more

Co-location creates risk of healthcare inflation

Greg Baxter | 27 July 2007

There has been no contact between Vhi and developers of co-located hospitals, and there is no guarantee the hospitals will be approved by the insurer, the Chief Executive of Vhi has told Irish Medical Times. Mr Vincent Sheridan also suggested... Read more

Capping of hospital profits is not realistic

Ian McGuinness | 13 July 2007

The Irish Medical Organisation might be naive in accepting the for-profit model of hospital co-location, Prof Risteárd Mulcahy has said. The prominent consultant cardiologist proposed a motion, passed at this year’s IMO AGM, which opposed for-profit co-located hospitals. Nonetheless, he... Read more

IMO not in favour of hospital co-location

Ian McGuinness | 13 July 2007

The Irish Medical Organisation is not supporting co-location of hospitals, two of its most prominent members have said. Its Vice President, Dr Martin Daly, said that, notwithstanding the deep reservations the IMO has about the policy, it is part of... Read more

Beacon chosen for co-location development

Greg Baxter | 13 July 2007

Beacon Medical Group is the big winner in the Health Service Executive’s (HSE’s) hospital co-location plan. Beacon was picked to develop three proposed sites, and provide 483 lucrative beds, as part of the HSE’s Co-located Private Hospitals Project.... Read more

IMO supports co-location with caveats

Ian McGuinness | 13 July 2007

The history of the Irish Medical Organisation’s (IMO) stance on co-location is not straightforward. The Minister for Health, Mary Harney, announced her co-location policy in July 2005. The premise was that by creating up to 10 hospitals, with 100 beds... Read more

IMO denies u-turn on co-location policy

Ian McGuinness | 06 July 2007

The Irish Medical Organisation has denied its latest declaration of support for co-located hospitals, with safeguards attached, is a policy u-turn. On 14 April 2007 the IMO Annual General Meeting passed a motion, which read: “For ethical reasons and because... Read more

Co-location synonymous with Orwellian privatisation says ICTU economic advisor

Ian McGuinness | 06 July 2007

The term ‘co-location’ has been branded as Orwellian and offensive by the economic advisor to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. Speaking at a Combat Poverty Agency conference on ‘Community Participation in Primary Care,’ Mr Paul Sweeney said: “This offensive... Read more

Plan for 60 extra primary care centres

Ian McGuinness | 22 June 2007

Touchstone Healthcare is looking at 180 sites as possible locations for its primary care centres, Irish Medical Times has been told. A spokesperson for the company said that while 180 potential sites in the Republic are being looked at, the... Read more

Hospital privatisation plan opposed

Sandra Ryan | 15 June 2007

A new report is highly critical of the Government’s plan to have private hospitals built on public grounds. The report, entitled The Irish Health Service: Vision, Values, Reality, was co-authored by two organisations affiliated to Tallaght Hospital, the Adelaide Hospital... Read more

New private hospital at St Vincent’s appealed

Ian McGuinness | 01 June 2007

Plans for a 260-bed private hospital at the St Vincent’s University Hospital site have been appealed to An Bord Pleanála. Two people have appealed Dublin City Council’s decision to grant the St Vincent’s Healthcare Group planning permission for the new... Read more