Hospital consultants have been warned by the head of the HSE “the clock is ticking” on a demand that they sign claim forms promptly so the money can be claimed from insurance companies.
But Tony O’Brien, designate director general of the HSE, said that even if all claims forms were signed immediately it wouldn’t make an immediate differences because of delays in payouts by health insurers.
Some €74 million due from insurers in relation to private work carried out in the public health system cannot be claimed because consultants have not signed the required claim forms, the Dáil Public Accounts Committee heard. Some €8 million of these claims are over a year old.
Fine Gael TD Kieran O’Donnell pointed out the fee income due from insurance firms exceeded the €58 million being cut from spending on frontline services before the end of the year. The money was “hanging out there like a sore thumb” and it was unacceptable it couldn’t be collected faster.
Some of the cuts could be reversed if the money was made available, he contended.
HSE director of human relations Barry O’Brien said the bodies representing consultants had been warned that persistent failure by some consultants to sign forms within 14 days would be addressed by their employer.
Mr O’Brien declined to say what the HSE would do if consultants failed to implement the terms of the recent Labour Court decision on rest days and leave arrangements until the Irish Medical Organisation finished balloting members. If resistance was met, he said, the HSE would report to Government.
He pointed out that the number of consultants and junior doctors employed by the health service was at a record high.
Some 59 consultants received a €46,000 a year clinical director’s allowance, the meeting heard.
