Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: A Dáil committee is to ask for an independent chairperson to be appointed to try to resolve a long-running dispute over insurance cover for hospital consultants, writes Eithne Donnellan, Health Correspondent.
The dispute is between the Department of Health and the British-based Medical Defence Union (MDU) over who should cover consultants, particularly consultant obstetricians, for compensation claims not yet lodged arising out of incidents of malpractice in the past.
The MDU, one of two British companies which has been covering the consultants up to now, claims it does not have resources to continue covering historic claims going forward.
Furthermore, it claims it is not an insurance company, and has the discretion to refuse cover in individual cases.
At a recent meeting it refused cover to 11 Irish consultants, one of whom is understood to be former Drogheda obstetrician Dr Michael Neary.
MDU officials and representatives of the Irish Hospital Consultants' Association (IHCA) were cross-examined about the row by the joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children yesterday.
IHCA secretary general Mr Finbarr Fitzpatrick accused the MDU of hanging the 11 consultants "out to dry".
Why did the MDU collect subscriptions from the consultants if it was not going to give them something for their money, he asked.
The chief executive of the MDU, Dr Michael Saunders, said that between 1977 and 2001 the MDU received €25 million in subscriptions from obstetricians in Ireland, but had spent over €70 million meeting obstetric claims arising from that period.
He believed claims worth a further €130 million were outstanding.
He wants the Irish State to pick up the tab for a substantial portion of this sum, saying the MDU did not collect enough in subscriptions in the past to cover claims. "We did get it wrong," he admitted.
However, Mr Fitzpatrick said a Department of Health assessment has put the cost of outstanding obstetric claims at about €400 million.
Prof Michael O'Keeffe, chairman of the IHCA's enterprise liability committee, accused the MDU of being reckless in the way it exercised discretion in deciding not to insure 11 Irish consultants.
Committee member Ms Fiona O'Malley said the MDU was biased against Irish obstetricians. MDU officials were asked how many UK members were refused cover on the same day as the 11 from Ireland, but the question wasn't answered.
Dr Saunders said the MDU was not discriminatory, but had to act in the interests of the majority of its members, "not a tiny subgroup", meaning the Irish obstetricians.
Every case was considered on its merits when the MDU was deciding whether to provide cover.
The value of MDU assets and reinsurance at the end of 2003 stood at €190 million, he added.
The IHCA reiterated it would not enter talks with the Department of Health on a new consultants' contract until the insurance issue was resolved.
Committee chairman Mr John Maloney said he would recommend to the new Health Minister, Ms Harney, that an independent arbitrator be appointed to try to solve the dispute.