HSE plans public and private hospitals on same site

GOVERNMENT plans to co-locate public and private hospitals will be activated shortly, when the Health Service Executive (HSE) begins inviting tenders for a number of sites, Tánaiste and Health Minister Mary Harney said yesterday.

Addressing the inaugural annual private healthcare conference in Dublin, she said she was sure many of those who chose to misunderstand the policy would be less vocal when they saw the building of hospitals underway in their locality.

Last summer, Ms Harney issued a direction to the HSE to implement a policy to encourage the private sector to invest in new co-located hospitals in order to end the use of public beds for private patients.