Photograph: iStockExpectant mothers face increasing restrictions on accessing private maternity services from next week as new rules that aim to eliminate fee-paying medicine in public hospitals come fully into effect. These consultants have signed up to a new Sláintecare contract introduced by the Government in 2023. IHCA chief executive Jim Daly said that, unlike other medical disciplines, there were no private maternity units in operation across the State where women could access such care. He believed that management in some maternity hospitals would be agreeable to such a stance. According to the HSE, under the Health Act 1970, all patients admitted in public hospitals have statutory rights.
