Madam, - As a retired medical consultant, my only interest in the proposed new contracts is the service which they will produce for the public, including myself.
I note from your edition of March 2nd that it is proposed the private practice of holders of Type B contracts would be limited to a maximum of 20 per cent of their total clinical output. If half of all consultants in the health service opt for this type of contract it would mean that only 10 per cent of the total clinical work in the proposed public/private campuses would in fact be private work.
However, about 50 per cent of our population have private health insurance, mainly with the state-sponsored VHI. Fully private hospitals are unlikely to attract the best doctors and are unlikely to be fully comprehensive.
How, then, are the majority of private health subscribers to obtain the private treatment for which they have paid considerable subscriptions on top of their taxes, which are funding the public hospitals? Surely Minister for Health Mary Harney has a duty to include their rights in her plans. - Yours, etc,
Dr CONOR CARR, Mount Pleasant, Ballinasloe, Co Galway.