Sir, – Master of the National Maternity Hospital (NMH) Prof Shane Higgins need not worry that wealthier women will be unable to access private maternity care in a publicly funded maternity hospital (“Masters of maternity hospitals criticise move to end private care”, News, December 19th). It has long been reported that consultants will be provided with designated rooms for private practice as part of the plan to relocate the NMH to a site owned by a private company, which will also appoint members of the hospital’s new board of management. Indeed, perhaps one of the reasons some obstetrics consultants have been so vociferous in their support for moving the NMH to the private St Vincent’s Hospital campus is that they will be able to offer private services adjacent to, if not in, a new publicly funded hospital. – Yours, etc,
SÉAMUS WHITE,
Dublin 7.