Hospital co-location plan ‘deluded’

PLANS to locate a private hospital on the grounds of Cork University Hospital (CUH) have been described as dangerous and deluded by the former president of the Irish Medical Organisation, Dr Christine O’Malley.

Dr O’Malley, a member of the Campaign for a Real Public service, will insist at this week’s planning inquiry in Cork that having “side by side” private and public hospitals is not in the interests of ordinary people.

“It is potentially dangerous because patient safety cannot be guaranteed and probably deluded because in a looming recession, the viability of private-for-profit healthcare operations must be open to question,” she said.