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TÁNAISTE LEO VARADKAR has said he expects private hospitals to step up and provide ICU bed capacity if the public system needs it.
Speaking on RTÉ’s News at One, he said “we may well need” private ICU beds to deal with the third Covid-19 surge.
Private hospitals are an “important piece” in the fight against the virus, he said.
“We didn’t need them in the first wave or the second wave, we may well need them in this third wave,” he said, stating that the bones of an agreement with the private hospitals is being worked on.
When asked about reports that some private hospitals might be minded not to sign up to the deal, Varadkar said his message to those hospitals is:
“Our message is that you were available in the first wave, you made your hospitals and your staff available in the first wave. We paid for that, but we are grateful for it.
“It’s much more likely we’re going to need those private hospitals now. You need to make them available, your staff, your doctors and nurses. They understand medical ethics, and they’re going to want you to make your ICU capacity available to us.
“Ideally, making that available to us, so that we can move patients who don’t have Covid into those private hospital ICU beds is about freeing up our ICU is to focus on Covid.”
HSE boss Paul Reid said good progress has been made on an agreement with the private hospitals, stating that a number of private hospitals have signed up to the safety net agreement. He said they expect five more hospitals to sign up this week.
He urged private hospitals to work with them during the national crisis, adding “not to do so would be incomprehensible”.
Name and shame
Asked about whether private hospitals that fail to step up to provide capacity should be named and shamed, he said:
“You know, I don’t think that’s going to be necessary. Every single private hospital came on board back in the first wave and in those hospitals are doctors, nurses, therapists, people who dedicated their lives to saving lives, and on the boards of those hospitals, there are people who dedicated their lives to healthcare and saving lives. I’m absolutely confident that they will all make their facilities available,” he said.
On the issue of ICU capacity in the public hospitals, he said there are around 300 beds, which he said can scale up with surge capacity to over 400.
“I think we’re facing into into a very dark month of January. This is a third wave which could be much worse than the first,” he said, stating that they hope the numbers will peak in the next couple of days.
“But there’s no guarantee of that,” he added.
Varadkar said we won’t see the full impact on Irish hospitals and ICU capacity for “another couple of weeks”.
“So even in the most optimistic scenario, we’d see 1,500 people hospitalised with Covid at any one time, and it could be as high as 3,000 if we matched the kind of UK figures. It could be close to 3,000, but we’re hoping we’ll keep it to about 1,500 though.”
What is different to March and April is that we are much better prepared, said the Tánaiste.
He said there are stockpiles of PPE, hundreds of ventilators and more ICU beds, as well as 6,000 more staff.
“We have a better idea now which treatments work, and which do not. But unfortunately, none of those things, prevent Covid, and that’s why we’re asking people to stay at home if at all possible to slow down this virus, and give us time to get the vaccine into the arms of our healthcare workers and vulnerable patients,” said Varadkar.
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My message to Leo,… You had years to fix the health service and you did nothing. Now its coming back to bite you. Stop blaming others and do your job
@Paul Dolan: You should have started your post with “Let me be very clear……”. That’s how they do it up in the big smoke.
@David Corrigan: Or ” in the context of”..
@Paul Dolan: they had decades to fix it. But even the countries with first class health care have struggled with this virus, Italy, Spain , Holland even Belgium had to ask their neighbours to accept patients. Look 2 weeks ago in the north and patients being treated in ambulances in car parks outside hospitals
@Patrick O Connell: Agree but for example the IT system they are using for contact tracing is windows XP and Windows 7. All obselete technology. Whats the bet they will mess up the vaccine roll out
@Paul Dolan: his job is Minister for Business
@Paul Dolan: that begs the question what they are doing with the 18 billion a year. Not into the beds or wards, not into IT, not into paying the nurses correctly and the list goes on…..
@James Gorman: He is the spokesman for everything. Mr know it all
Meanwhile since the first wave, a government-funded field hospital was erected and subsequently dismantled in Limerick, at a cost of millions, a decision that looks very shortsighted.
Where’s The Minister for health.
And the 3rd wave was completely preventable as was the second one, I can be restricted to my county for nearly all of the year and kept within a 3 mile radius for over half of it. Meanwhile they’re saying 0 covid wouldn’t be considered. They’re the reason our healthcare workers are exhausted. And I don’t blame the public at all for December, things were open and people lived a little, its not their fault an invisible respiratory disease and now a new strain is allowed to walse into the country. This is not the people of Irelands fault. 99% of us have all done our part and the government failed us.
@David Lee: No point in blaming anyone now David. The damage is done and now it’s time we pulled together and launched an offensive against this thing.
@David Lee: so you say that people “lived a little” but on the other hand it’s not the people’s fault, it’s the government’s. How is this? Shebeens, house parties, teens roaming around in large groups, people gathering in groups drinking takeaway pints… Yet none of this is the people’s fault??
@GrumpyAulFella: Well maybe because the virus didn’t swim here and people would be able to roam around this tiny island all they want if our National public health and emergency team had of actually thought of public health and implemented 0 covid with only essentials like freight coming into the country. How they can call themselves NPHET when they’ve only caused misery among other diseases such as the many cancelled cancer diagnosis screenings is beyond me. The government have allowed NPHET to leave our borders open to every Tom, dick and Harry while screaming level 5 every 6 weeks
@David Lee: You have it the wrong way round David. NPHET provide the recommendations. The government pick and choose from that list and implement them. How do we know if NPHET didn’t already suggest all of that?
@David Lee: I think you’re incorrect in saying 99% of us have done our part because if that was the case the country wouldn’t be riddled so I’m sure the percentage is much lower. I agree the government have failed us but the public “living a little” in December is the main cause of the rampant spread of this.
@David Lee: NPHET doesn’t have the power to implement 0 Covid. NPHET doesn’t have the power to decide who or what does or doesn’t enter the country. NPHET doesn’t have the power to cancel cancer diagnosis screenings. NPHET doesn’t have the power to close our borders.
@David Lee: there’s plenty of fault to go around but the people (not all but many) we’re definitely at fault in a big way.
@GrumpyAulFella: of course, it was all in our own hands, the people, the Irish citizens! We knew – we were asked – reminded – told – warned – advised and
supported to NOT do as we did. But we are selfish greedy society from the top to the bottom – and we choose to risk all those lives. We should hang our heads in shame.
You mean you will overpay DOB and Goodman for the privilege of helping out. Thanks Leo and FG
Start with paying the nurses!
Leo’s message to private hospitals should be its a state emergency we are commandeering your staff and your beds for the foreseeable future and your not getting another penny. If you are able to put 400000 of your citizens on the dole then the fat cat owners of private hospitals should have to shoulder their share as well. I accept that the state should pay staff wages but that’s it
@Michael McGrath: So we are commandeering private assets now comrade, I’ll pop round for the keys of your house and car.
@Denis Ryan: “… we reaffirm that all right to private property must be subordinated to the public right and welfare.”
- Programme for the first Dail, 1919.
Also there is a difference between private property and personal property. Have you read even a single word of communist or socialist philosophy? Because if you don’t even know that distinction I doubt it. It’s fine to be opposed to socialism but you should probably at least know what it is first or you might look foolish.
@Michael McGrath: and where do the doctors come from?. They aren’t employees of the private hospitals
@Liam Edward Harris: Studied sociology at university so I have a basic understanding. My response was to the first commentator who said “Leo….. and commandeering the private hospitals” Great plan if Leo wanted to end up in the high court. Very nice condescension by the way.
@Denis Ryan: was your reply to Michael not condescending or do you call people comrade sincerely? And if you don’t k ow the difference between private and personal property then you do not have “a basic understanding” because that distinction plays a huge part in socialist theory.
Why would Leo end up in the high court? We have rights to movement and assembly. If they can be stripped during a crisis then surely we can commandeer private hospitals if needed to save lives? There’s historical presedemce around the world with manufacturing being commandeered to aid in war efforts so why not to fight a pandemic?
@Liam Edward Harris: Never mentioned socialism and understand how cpo’s work in Ireland. A valid point was made after mine, who staffs the said commandeered hospital? Private doctors and consultants? But if they say no we dont have the gulags built yet to send them to.
@Denis Ryan: You can be sure public money in the form of grants and or tax reliefs and such like were given towards the building of these hospitals. All of our civil liberties have been massively infringed upon during this pandemic and I did say national emergency. As for the comrade comment grow up
@Denis Ryan: So just because you studied sociology give you the right to be a pompous know it all
@Ciaran bolger: yes they are
@Michael McGrath: Not a know it all, only said I had a basic understanding. You on the other hand are encouraging the seizure of private assets without compensation. Never going to happen.
@Denis Ryan: if you weren’t talking about socialism/communism then what was the crack about taking houses and the comrade remark about then?
The doctors would be paid. Nobody would work for free, the only difference would be the hospitals wouldn’t be run for profit for a period because it’s more important that people don’t die than rich people don’t become slightly less rich.
@Denis Ryan: How is temporarily taking over hospitals in the midst of a health crisis a seizure of assets. Technically every restaurant, clothes shop, barbers and public house in the country has been seized by the govt because they can’t operate due to the pandemic. Why should private hospitals be any different and I never anywhere said to not pay the staff. So your argument is moot… Komerad
Will we be paying for them again or can we use the credit that we have for not using them first time around?
If it’s okay for us to give up our freedom of movement and loose our jobs then surely it’s okay for private hospitals to open up for the public at cost at the most? If we’re all in this together then hospitals can sacrifice a little profit considering we are all making sacrifices.
@Liam Edward Harris: No sir sacrifice and loss is just for the plebs in this country
I asked this question a few weeks back and got no reply. What is the situation regarding Slaintecare does anybody know?
Leo hadn’t the nerve to close the country properly the first time. Advice from Gardai instead of heavy fines. A 5 kilometre exercise allowance is ridiculous and a proper night time curfew like many other countries is needed to stop the parties.
@Ian James Burgess: was it not under Leo and the restrictions imposed while he was Taoiseach that the cases dropped to only a few a day?
@Sam Harms: I don’t think that’s a fair comparison to be honest. The restrictions in Mark worked because nobody knew what to expect and stayed at home as there was a fear factor involved. Don’t ever forget that Leo and Michael are just the messenger boys in all of this. They don’t design the restrictions strategies. They just pass on the message to the people.
@Sam Harms: people abided by the rules at the beginning as everyone thought it would only be for a short while so not really a victory he can claim.
@David Corrigan: *unfair I meant.
Can’t pay them off this time! Or is he lacking the funds
So they will Tax the PUP recipients and give it to the Private Hospitals.. A Sham…!!!!!
Another few bob for Denis O’Brien.
If Leaky Leo is involved you can bet that these private hospitals will have restrictions on what they will charge the taxpayer for their use.
Their a private business so no they don’t
@Stay safe, be a hermit:
They’re eating their chips over there !
SHOULD BE NO PROBLEM, AS LONG AS THERE GETTING PAID WELL.
@Pauline Fedigan:
They’re eating their chips over there !
Another big pay day on the way for Larry and Dennis etc.
Liam Woods head of acute services in HSE said this week we can increase ICU beds to 350. Now Paul Reid says its 400. Who’s right ?
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