Buttimer seeks audit of private hospitals over bills

The chair of the Oireachtas Health Committee is calling for an audit of private and public hospitals to examine exactly what private patients are being billed for after it emerged that one woman paid €1,175 for a 90-minute visit to a private hospital in Cork.

The bill, following a cataract procedure at the Mater Private Hospital in City Gate, Mahon, Cork, did not include consultant’s or anaesthesiologist fees.

Fine Gael TD Jerry Buttimer said he “couldn’t accept that costs were so high”. The woman, from Ballincollig, Co Cork, spent approximately 15 minutes in theatre. At no stage did she occupy a bed. The entire visit took 90 minutes.