‘Top-up’ from seeing private patients, Rhona Mahony says

The Master of National Maternity Hospital (NMH) Dr Rhona Mahony has said the € 45,000 "privately funded allowance" which a HSE internal audit revealed she was receiving came from fees for seeing private patients.

In a statement she said that her remuneration as Master “strictly in line” with her contract was exactly in compliance with public service pay requirements for her position.

“As a consultant obstetrician my contract allows me to provide clinical care to private patients, as is the case with all consultants in the Irish health service who have the same consultant contract as myself. The provision of private patient care is fundamental to the health service as currently structured.”

“The € 45,000 paid to me, and labelled by the media as a ‘top-up’, is in respect of professional fees from private patients attending the National Maternity Hospital.

“With regard to this, I have the same contractual terms as all other medical Consultants in the Irish health service who have the same contract. The existence of this income has been reported to the HSE in May 2012 as part of a routine confidential internal audit carried out by the HSE.

“ To be absolutely clear, I have never received any additional remuneration from the health service or any other source, including fundraising and charitable donations.”

Dr Mahony maintained that she had been "personally vilified over the last few days" after details of the additional payments being made to senior health service figures emerged in a Department of Health report.

She said this had been “utterly unwarranted”.

Separately the National Maternity Hospital said it remunerated its personnel “in accordance with their employment terms, with the agreement of the appropriate Board sub-committees, and in full compliance with public service pay requirements”.

It said that no payments were made to personnel at the hospital from any funds raised or received as donations either to it or the National Maternity Hospital Foundation.

“The Board confirms that all funds so raised go directly to purchase necessary medical equipment, not provided for by allocated State funding, in order to maintain safe standards for the 9,000 babies born annually at NMH.”

“The Board of the NMH fully supports the Master and her management team as they continue to work hard to deliver a world-class service to women and babies in sub-optimal conditions.”