Hillery: co-location plans ‘open to abuse’

THE outgoing president of the Medical Council has claimed the plan to locate private hospitals on public hospital grounds will be open to abuse without proper regulation.

Dr John Hillery said the debate over the controversial co-location proposal had got bogged down in ideological disputes about public versus privately-owned health services when the real issue was how services were used.

He said medical needs, not the public or private status of patients, must determine their access to such services. “Having a debate about ownership is missing the point. What matters is regulation,” he said.

“Where the State uses or supports private sector healthcare providers, access to those services, such as at the co-located private hospitals, must be on the basis of equity and medical need only. A full system of regulation will have to be in place before the co-location model is finalised. Otherwise the system would be open to abuse and would introduce inequalities.”

Dr Hillery, son of former President Patrick Hillery, is standing down from the Medical Council after announcing his intention to run for election to the Seanad on the National University of Ireland panel. His resignation is to be accepted at the next Council meeting in a fortnight.

Launching his election manifesto yesterday, Dr Hillery also called for the creation of Child Protection Response Teams to be available on a regional basis, 24/7.

He was nominated for the Seanad by his father and seconded by Michael Cawley, deputy chief executive of Ryanair.