€4.3m in outstanding payments from private insurers to Carlow/Kilkenny's St Luke's Hospital

Over €4.3 million was outstanding in payments due from private health insurers to St Luke’s Hospital in Kilkenny at the end of 2017, according to the most up to date figures.

The amount was revealed through a Parliamentary Question by local TD John McGuinness to the Minister for Health.

The response to the PQ from the HSE shows the amount outstanding in payments due from private health insurers to public hospitals.

The sum outstanding for Kilcreene Hospital is revealed to be €100,000. The total amount outstanding for all hospitals nationally was €272 million.

Deputy McGuinness said he was “surprised, given the state of the health services and the need to get money in” that companies had not paid for treatments or services.

“It’s astonishing it would happen,” he said

“A far more efficient system has to be achieved.”

The Fianna Fail TD said there may be disputes involved over some amounts, but “when you get services you’re expected to pay”.

“I don’t know whose fault it is, but I think that kind of money being outstanding is enormous,” he said.

In his Parliamentary Question, Deputy McGuinness also enquired whether there is a system in place in each hospital to ensure the full amount is claimed from the companies and that the hospital is not under-billing.

In response to the PQ, General Manager of Corporate Finance at the HSE Sarah Anderson said Grant Thornton was appointed as implementation partners on the patient outcome improvement process in 2017 following a tender process. She said they are “tasked with assisting each hospital’s approach and operation of the patient income process and to introduce elements of standardisation”.

The response also says it is a three-year project, with governance provided by the Patient Income Oversight Group. The initiatives of this are to standardise billing collection of Emergency Department and inpatient charges, ensure patient details are recorded at the earliest point, and access current staffing levels and match it with activity levels.

“The shortcomings in the HSE legacy financial systems are well acknowledged and their replacement by a single standard financial system for the health sector is at the core of the finance reform programme initiated by the Department of Health,” says the response.