Varadkar ‘putting patients at mercy of profits’

The health minister has been accused of placing patients at the mercy of profit margins after admitting he is in favour of contracting out the management of under- performing public hospitals to private companies.

Opposition parties and doctors rounded on Leo Varadkar yesterday in the wake of a speech in which he said it should be open to the CEO of a hospital group to transfer management of a hospital to a private provider in cases where hospitals “consistently under-perform in terms of clinical outcomes, patient experience, and financial management”.

Mr Varadkar, who was addressing the Institute of Chartered Accountants, also said hospital groups should essentially be able to conduct business in the manner of semi-state companies “outside the constraints of public service rules”.