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IRISH private hospitals and clinics received over €88m from the state last year in payments under the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF), according to new figures.
The fund, which was set up in 2002, aims to provide private care to patients who end up waiting more than three months for treatment in the public system.
Despite the public perception that many NTPF patients go abroad for treatment, only 1% are treated outside Ireland with the remainder getting treatment in a mixture of public and private facilities.
The NTPF is the largest purchaser of private care in the state, spending just under €100m on treatments and tests in 2008, once payments to foreign hospitals and Irish public hospitals are included.
As in previous years, the majority of NTPF funding in 2008 went to a handful of private hospitals, with the Mater Private in Dublin receiving €22.6m, which equates to over 20% of the fund's budget.
This figure represents a 53% increase on payments to the hospital compared with 2007.
Meanwhile, private hospitals associated
with surgeon Jimmy Sheehan were the second- and third-largest recipients of NTPF funding during the year.
Dublin's Blackrock Clinic, which Sheehan founded in 1984, received over €12.9m while the Galway Clinic, where Sheehan is chief executive, received €11.3m.
Unlike many private operators, the fourth-largest recipient, the Bon Secours Group, saw a decline in its income under the NTPF during 2008, receiving €10m compared with €13m in 2007.
St Francis Private Hospital in Mullingar, the fifth-largest recipient, also experienced a decline in NTPF payments, which slid by almost 10% to €6.3 m.
Industry sources said the dominant position of a small number of players in the NTPF reflected a number of medical realities such as the fact that only a small number of operators, such as the Mater Private, could carry out certain procedures.
Top 10 Recipients of NTPF Funding 2008
1. Mater Private Hospital, €22,630,207
2. Blackrock Clinic, €12,910,991
3. The Galway Clinic, €11,367,668
4. Bon Secours Group, €10,036,969
5. Public hospitals, €9,679,332
6. St Francis Private Hospital €6,327,053
7. Mount Carmel Medical Group, €5,515,554
8. Beacon Hospital, €5,261,366
9. Hampton Medical Ltd, €3,731,669
10. Barringtons Hospital, €2,905,874
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The NTPF is a scandalous duplicity of payment to consultants to treat public patients privately whos public beds are occupied by the over admission of private patients by consultants exceeding their priuvate 20% quota. There should not be 1 cent of taxpayers money spent on the NTPF until the 20% quota limit is enforced rigidly which it certainly is not at tne moment or anything like it. This is the biggest elephant in the HSE room and I cannot understand how this abuse continues unchecked.