Ireland's health service is locked in a bitter back-and-forth with a leading private hospital that's refusing to sign up to a vital Covid-19 'safety net' deal.
The HSE has today been trading blows with the Beacon Hospital – a private facility in Dublin that has declined to sign up to an agreement to allow the health service to use its premises amid Ireland's Covid-19 spike.
Today, HSE chief Paul Reid expressed "extreme frustration" with the health centre – the only one of Ireland's 18 private hospitals that hasn't signed up to the "safety net" deal.
Mr Reid told RTE Radio One he had to "genuinely express my extreme frustration that the Beacon hasn’t signed up to that agreement."
"We have our public health system facing the biggest crisis probably in history for the state and for our health services," he added.
"We have a fantastic team of people all across our hospitals, including private, working relentlessly, but we are racing to save people’s lives here and it is beyond frustrating for me. It’s beyond belief and comprehension."
Batting back, the Beacon said that said it was not willing to give up "Clinical Governance" to the HSE.
"The last HSE Agreement, which Beacon Hospital signed up to, in April to June last year, allowing the HSE take clinical control, led to the hospital being 70% empty for three months," said a spokesperson for the hospital.
"Beacon Hospital today confirmed that it is already wearing the green jersey - doing all that it can to support the public system during the ongoing public health crisis.
"Beacon Hospital is currently treating more public patients than the HSE agreement envisages or asks for and has been doing this for over 4 months.
"Beacon Hospital is treating more public patients than any of the 17 other private hospitals."
