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.