Private maternity care has ended at two separate hospitals, while just one consultant who is able to accept private patients remains at a third unit.
Sligo University Hospital and Midland Regional Hospital Portlaoise have confirmed they no longer accept private patients, after their consultants moved to a new public-only contract at the start of this year.
There is one consultant on a public-private contract left at Portiuncula Hospital in Galway, after two colleagues stopped providing private care.
Since January, new public-only contracts for consultants have come into effect which ban doctors from carrying out private work within public hospitals. Signing the new contract was voluntary for consultants on older public-private contracts, but compulsory for younger staff who have qualified since 2023.
RM Block
The new policy will lead to the eventual end of all private and semi-private maternity care in Ireland, as older consultants retire and are replaced by those on public-only contracts.
Last month, The Irish Times reported that about 150 women had been turned away for private care by consultants at the National Maternity Hospital (NMH) over a six-week period as the number of patients seeking private care is now higher than the number of consultants who can offer it.
Private care has now ended entirely at two of the country’s 19 maternity units following the introduction of the new public-only contracts.
A spokeswoman for the HSE West and North West said that “private maternity care ceased at Sligo University Hospital on December 31, 2025”.
“The consultant who provided this service transitioned to a Public Only Consultant Contract and therefore private maternity care is no longer available in SUH,” the spokeswoman said. The hospital had never provided semi-private care.
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A spokesman for HSE Dublin and Midlands said he “can confirm that private maternity care is not currently available in Midland Regional Hospital Portlaoise”. The spokesman said that the end of private care at the maternity unit is “linked to staff moving on to public only contracts”.
There is one consultant left at Portiuncula Hospital who is providing private care.
Dr Marie-Christine De Tavernier, a consultant obstetrician, told The Irish Times she is now the only consultant offering private care at the maternity unit after one colleague decided to stop private practice and another changed to the new public-only contract.
“My patients express frequently the fact that the women of Ireland were not informed of the consequences of Sláintecare to the maternity services. Over time, when the older consultants will retire, no private maternity care option will be available to them unlike any other speciality in the state,” she said.
“Currently no patients are turned away except for the periods I would be on annual leave.”
