Private feesMaternity patients at Dublin's Mount Carmel hospital will have to pay an extra €220 in private fees from July onwards to fund a 24-hour paediatric service, The Irish Times has learned.
Expectant mothers booked into the private hospital were sent a letter in the post recently informing them of the additional charge, which will be introduced on July 1st and is not covered by either the VHI or Bupa.
Patients will be billed separately by a consultant partnership company, Braemor Services, established by the hospital's consultant paediatrician, Dr Brian Denham.
Paediatric and obstetric consultants have argued that current staffing levels are insufficient for a round-the-clock emergency paediatric service.
Mount Carmel has only one full-time consultant paediatrician and the hospital's Maternity Group, made up of both nurses and doctors, claim a minimum of four consultants are needed for 24-hour paediatric care. The new arrangement would mean a paediatrician is on-call for every delivery.
The hospital's chief executive, Mr Michael Dowling, was not available for comment on whether Mount Carmel was in favour of the extra charge - his office said, however, the €220 fee had "nothing to do with the hospital and was a professional charge levied by a private consultant".
As the VHI was not informed of the new cost levy, maternity staff fear the State-owned insurer will seek to penalise paediatricians who separately bill for their services.
A VHI spokeswoman said it was "actively engaged in seeking information from the hospital" but declined to make any comment "until we have established whether there is any impact or implication to our members".
According to a senior doctor in the hospital's maternity group, consultants initially sought to part-fund the 24-hour paediatric service by seeking an increase in VHI's maternity cover at Mount Carmel.
Dr Denham, who has spearheaded the introduction of the service, said the €220 fee was necessary to improve the hospital's paediatric cover but said he regretted patients would be charged separately. "It's virtually impossible to provide a 24-hour, seven-day a week on-call paediatric service with less than four consultants."
It is understood he is attempting to have the payment included on the hospital's central billing system.
Limited neonatal facilities at Mount Carmel mean seriously ill babies are often sent to the special care baby unit at the National Maternity Hospital at Holles Street for treatment.
While the new 24-hour consultant paediatric care at Mount Carmel is not expected to alter this referral procedure, Dr Denham claims patients want the option of instant access to a consultant paediatrician. He said the health industry was a services industry and "we should give patients the services they demand".