Pay TV in hospital

A reader who has been a long-term patient in the Mater Hospital in Dublin got in touch recently to highlight what he believes is an unfair charge on sick people who can ill afford to pay it. The TVs in the hospital, he writes, are coin-operated and it costs €2 for four hours worth of viewing. "If you watch an average of six hours a day it will cost you €20 a week," he says.

He accepts that times are tough but says it seems like a particularly mean-spirited way to raise money. He made the point that he has also been treated in the Mater Private - one of the top two private hopitals in the country - and, naturally enough, the TVs there aren't coin-operated. We contacted the hospital and were told that it was not a new charge. A spokeswoman said she recognised it was in issue and said the hospital authorities were in the process of phasing out the coin-operated TVs. She said the TVs had been in place for over 10 years but were never a money making scheme. All the money raised went towards TV maintenance, she said.

The coin-operated models have already been taken off a number of wards in the hospital, including the geriatric wards, the orthopaedic wards and the A&E, and it will take two or three years to phase them out across the hospital.

She also said nurses could override the pay-per-view system and do make sure it comes on automatically for one programme every single week: Mass.