The HSE forced Dublin’s St Vincent’s University Hospital (SVUH) to stop public-only consultants claiming from medical insurers for pathology laboratory work done for private patients.
The lab at SVUH provides services to other sites, primarily in the public system, but was also reporting private patients’ pathology at St Vincent’s Private Hospital.
Although the cost of the work was covered by a cost-recovery agreement between the two entities, Public-Only Consultant Contract (POCC) holders in the lab were able to claim for private work from health insurers for work done outside their public hours.
This year the hospital recognised that the arrangement resulted in noncompliance with the POCC contract, which does not allow holders to carry out private work in a public hospital. In all, 15 consultants on the public-only contract were carrying out the work.
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It sought a temporary exemption from the HSE allowing the arrangement to continue, but this was rejected in June. Consultants on the public-only contract were prevented from claiming for this private work from July 3rd.
[ Rotunda allowed 17 consultants on public-only contracts to give private care ]
The information was given in response to a parliamentary question from Social Democrats health spokesman Pádraig Rice.
“Every hospital must comply with the terms of the public-only contract and that means no on-site private work by public-only consultants”, the Cork South Central TD said.
He called for rigorous management of the contract’s implementation “to ensure that reform isn’t blocked by legacy culture and historic arrangements”.
The hospital said it engaged with the HSE and, following the rejection, it commenced implementation of an alternative service model to bring the arrangement into full compliance.
The work by the 15 public-only consultants is continuing outside their public hours, although they can no longer claim payment for it.
An SVUH spokeswoman said this was “essential to support timely diagnosis and treatment for patients and to ensure patient safety”.
She said an immediate cessation of services without an alternative in place would risk disruption to timely diagnosis and treatment.
“SVUH is therefore managing this transition in a way that safeguards continuity of care while ensuring full compliance with POCC requirements,” she said.
The private hospital said it was working with SVUH on this.
SVUH said it was working on a new “delivery model” to be finalised this year. The agreement between it and the private hospital was reviewed annually. There was no backlog in the processing of samples at the lab, it said.
Under the public-only contract – introduced in 2023 – consultants received higher salaries of €231,000 to €277,000 before additional allowances or payments. Private practice for contract holders was to be phased out completely in public hospitals by the end of last year.
A hospital spokeswoman said any claim the private hospital benefited from a subsidy from public resources was “unfounded and incorrect”, saying there had been no impact on patient care.
The Department of Health said arrangements in SVUH were not consistent with the requirements of the contract and an application to continue these was formally declined.
“The contract is clear that consultants employed on a POCC may not engage in private practice. This is a fundamental feature of the contract and is central to ensuring that public resources, facilities and consultant time are focused on the delivery of care to public patients,” a spokesman said.
He said non-compliant practices should be stopped in a “planned and co-ordinated manner”.
A HSE spokeswoman said exceptions under a clause in the contract would arise only in rare, nationally sanctioned cases.
“The cessation of on-site private practice by POCC consultants is a core requirement of the contract. St Vincent’s University Hospital’s application for an exception was formally declined on June 25th, 2026.”
