Rotunda to stop private maternity care by public-only consultants following ministerial pressure

The maternity hospital has been under public pressure to cancel permission given to consultants who signed public-only contracts to deliver babies under private-care on site despite arguing this is about offering choice to women. Photo: Sam Boal/Collins photos

The Rotunda hospital has agreed to stop offering private maternity care carried out by consultants on public-only contracts after pressure from the health minister and government ministers.

The maternity hospital has been under public pressure to cancel permission given to consultants who signed public-only contracts to deliver babies under private care on site, despite arguing this is about offering choice to women. 

The contracts, with a starting salary of €238,221 plus allowances, on-call, and callout payments, only allow for private work to be done away from HSE hospitals. 

The board met on Monday evening, and a spokesman said it has unanimously decided to bring the hospital’s arrangements into line with the Government’s policy on the terms of the public only consultant contract".

Health minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill had indicated that state funding could be withdrawn if the contracts were not being complied with fully. 

The hospital spokesman said: “The threat of withdrawal of funding was something the board could not countenance because of the potential consequences for women and babies.

"The board is confident that the safety and clinical outcomes for all women and their babies are of the highest standard in the Rotunda Hospital. The board continues to believe in the importance of choice for women and that a compromise solution for maternity care should be sought through dialogue with the Department of Health and the HSE.” 

A key concern has been that the move towards public-only hospitals means an end to private maternity care, as there is no private maternity hospital left in Ireland. 

Earlier on Monday, Ms Carroll MacNeill said an audit of the Rotunda's private arrangements was expected later this week. 

She had initially expected it on Monday, but due to a bereavement suffered by a senior staff member, understood to be the late father of hospital master Professor Sean Daly, it was extended.

Speaking at the opening of a new wing at Mallow General Hospital earlier on Monday, she said she expected agreement on state contracts.

“The Rotunda is governed by a board that I don't appoint, that doesn't report to me. And it is independent, although it receives 90% of its funding from the State,” she said.

“I hope the Rotunda will come back in compliance with government policy, in compliance with their contract. I expect that they will.” 

She also said: “I will see what their response is, reflect on it appropriately and gently and see what the next steps are as appropriate.” 

Contracts signed by the consultants and the hospital were watertight legally, with no possible permission for the provision of private care unless authorised by the State, Ms Carroll MacNeill said, despite recent speculation that they were not.

There is no evidence of private care being provided by consultants on these contracts at other hospitals, she also said.

Up to February, out of 235 obstetricians nationally, some 124 signed to the public-only contract, figures provided to Labour health spokeswoman Marie Sherlock show.

Earlier on Monday, speaking on RTÉ Radio 1, public expenditure minister Jack Chambers said he backed Ms Carroll MacNeill in the showdown.

When asked if the Government would really withhold funding, he said there would be “phased escalation through the HSE with the Rotunda under the service level agreement" if the contracts were not complied with fully.