Private hospital deal could cost €700m, the ‘cost of a new hospital’ – Cork consultant

The Bon Secours hospital in Cork City

The deal brokered between the Department of Health and 19 private hospitals does not represent value for money for the tax payer and, as it stands, could pay for a new hospital, a Cork hospital consultant has said.

Dr Cróchán O’Sullivan, a consultant cardiologist at the Bons Secours private hospital in Cork City, said the deal to take over the use of 19 private hospitals for the duration of the public health emergency could cost as much as €700 million, the price of a new hospital.