Patient Safety (Notifiable Incidents and Open Disclosure) Act 2023

Prescribed private health services

75. The Act of 2007 is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 101:

“101A. (1) Without limiting the generality of section 98, the Minister, having consulted the Authority and any other person as he or she considers appropriate, may prescribe a health service to be a prescribed private health service for the purposes of this Act.

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), the Minister shall have regard to the following matters:

(a) whether the service is provided on an in-patient, day-patient or out‑patient basis;

(b) whether the service is provided in a hospital (other than a private hospital) where medical or surgical treatment for illness or injury, disability, palliative, obstetric or gynaecological care is provided;

(c) whether a general anaesthetic is administered to a patient in the provision of that service;

(d) whether the service is provided in a hospital (other than a private hospital) where the provision of the service is under the direction of registered medical practitioners from at least 3 different medical specialities who are registered in the Specialist Division of the register of medical practitioners;

(e) whether the service that is being provided is arranged by the National Treatment Purchase Fund Board under the National Treatment Purchase Fund Board (Establishment) Order 2004 ( S.I. No. 179 of 2004 );

(f) whether the service that is being provided includes the performance of surgery, or a surgical intervention, in respect of aesthetic purposes, or other non-clinical purposes, that involves instruments or equipment being inserted into the body of the patient.

(3) When prescribing a health service to be a prescribed private health service under subsection (1), the Minister shall not prescribe health services provided—

(a) at a designated centre,

(b) at a centre registered by the Mental Health Commission, or

(c) at a retail pharmacy business.

(4) In this section, ‘retail pharmacy business’ has the same meaning as it has in the Pharmacy Act 2007 .”.