Staff at private hospitals across the State may have to be temporarily laid off if the industrial action by hospital consultants escalates in two weeks as planned, it has emerged.
The association which represents the majority of private hospitals in the State is to meet the secretary general of the Department of Health, Mr Michael Kelly, on Monday, to discuss its concerns about the consultants' action.
Members of the Irish Hospital Consultants' Association (IHCA), plan to provide emergency services only, from February 23rd, in all private and public hospitals. The action will be taken in protest at the imposition of a new insurance scheme, which does not cover them for mistakes they may have made in the past, and in respect of which claims have not yet been lodged. The Independent Hospital Association of Ireland (IHAI), will tell Mr Kelly that hospitals will have to seriously wind down or close from February 23rd, if the consultants' action goes ahead.
This is because more than 70 per cent of the work of private hospitals is elective surgery, which will be cancelled for the duration of the dispute.
They are concerned about how keeping a full hospital open would affect their income, if only 30 per cent of its capacity were used.
One source said yesterday they may have to issue protective notice to some staff, or close completely. Up to 4,000 staff are employed in the private hospital sector.
They have not yet decided what they will do, but the quandary facing them will be spelled out clearly to the Department of Health on Monday.
There are about 2,500 beds in private hospitals in the Republic, and they admit about 3,000 patients a week.
These hospitals include the Blackrock Clinic, the Mater Private and St Vincent's Private Hospitals in Dublin and the Bon Secours Private Hospitals in Cork, Galway, Tralee and Dublin. If they were to close, even for a short period, the pressure on the already overstretched public hospitals would be enormous.
Asked to comment on its concerns, the IHAI said in a statement:
"The Independent Hospital Association of Ireland calls on all sides - Medical Defence Union, Department of Health and the IHCA - to redouble their efforts to find a solution to the dispute, which concerns enterprise liability.
"The private hospital sector is not a principal to this dispute so our ability to resolve the situation is negligible. However, there are major implications for our sector if this dispute goes ahead."
There is no indication that consultants will call off their industrial action, which began when they withdrew from administrative duties last Monday. Their difficulty, they say, is that they could face financial ruin in the future, because the new State insurance scheme does not cover them for past adverse events.
The Department of Health believes that the company which insured them at the time of the past event, the Medical Defence Union (MDU), based in Britain, should pick up the bill for claims arising out of past incidents.
The MDU, however, claims it does not have the funds to do so. Officials from the Department of Health will travel to London for another meeting with the MDU next week, in an attempt to find a solution to the impasse.