There was disagreement last night between the private National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) and the Mater Public Hospital over the treatment of waiting list patients in beds closed because of budgetary cutbacks.
In a statement, the NTPF Project Director, Ms Maureen Lynott, said: "There is no agreement with the Mater Hospital to provide €4 million of NTPF funds in the current year."
However, both administrative and medical sources at the Mater reiterated an agreement had been draw up with the NTPF.
A spokesman for the Mater said that 31 beds in Our Lady's ward have been selected to treat elective surgery patients, "including any intake of public patients agreed under the NTPF scheme".
Some beds in this ward have been closed because of budgetary cutbacks and had formed part of an acute assessment unit designed to assess and treat acutely ill patients presenting to the accident and emergency department at the Mater.
As reported in yesterday's Irish Times, these beds formed the heart of the Medical Emergency Division, the partial closure of which has led to more patients spending a longer time on trolleys while waiting for admission.
In addition, the statement from the NTPF appears to rule out the treatment of patients under the scheme at any hospital which has had to cut beds because of financial constraints.
Pointing out that it did not wish to be party to the re-opening of closed public beds for the treatment of its patients, the NTPF said it "wishes to reiterate the strict criteria that apply to the treatment of its patients in public hospitals. Any agreement that will be entered into between the NTPF and public hospitals requires that each treating hospital will only treat NTPF patients where public patients and normal activity levels are not affected."
In Dublin, five of the capital's six main hospitals either have closed, or are in the process of closing beds, because of severe budgetary cutbacks. The NTPF statement effectively rules out their use as treatment facilities for "long waiters" on public hospital waiting lists and calls into question its ability to clear such lists in the eastern region.
A spokesperson for the NTPF was unable to clarify whether it would object to the use of hospital staff, redeployed by public hospital cutbacks, in the treatment of its patients.