Reilly says final health savings breakdown ‘to be validated’

A full assessment and validation of proposed budget 2014 savings in the health service will be carried out, according to Minister for Health James Reilly.

The validation process will include the Departments of Health, the Taoiseach and Public Expenditure and Reform.

"It will involve a full assessment and validation and implementation of the savings," Dr Reilly told The Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk, adding that he had requested the intervention.

“I invited them in so that they could understand fully that the figures are real and this myth around mythical figures in the HSE and the department is rubbish. They’re real figures, come see for yourself.”

“The impact of our (spending) ceilings is then put into the service plan and that’s where the decisions are made as to how these savings are going to impact on various aspects of the service,” he said.

Commenting on measures which require his department to cut a total of €666 million next year, Dr Reilly said the department had to operate within the spending cap placed upon it.

The Minister said he remained committed to the goal of moving from the current hospital-centred service to a community-centred service and to “get rid of the two-tiered system”.

“This is a huge challenge for the health service. It’s the toughest challenge I’ve had to face yet as a Minister for Health. I’m committed to the reform, I’m committed to universal health insurance and we’ll deal with this budget and we’ll make sure that our service plan is done.”

Dr Reilly said the €113 million the Department of Health expected to save in a review of medical cards was "not plucked out of the air" but he admitted that it was not "forensic".

“Some people believe this is just about medical cards - it’s not. It’s about doctors, and what they claim for and their out-of-hours claims, it’s about pharmacists and what they claim for, as well.”

Asked whether he had a breakdown of the €113 million saving, Dr Reilly said “the full exercise hasn’t been done”.

“These were the figures that were given to us by Government and this is the cap within which we have to operate.

“There is a PWC report which indicates that there’s anywhere between €60 to - €200 million to be achieved in probity. So, we have to validate all this but taking that point seemed like a reasonable point to take.”

“We’ve had our ceiling set by Cabinet as I said yesterday and as a cabinet minister I accept that,” he added.

Dr Reilly insisted said anyone who is entitled to a medical card would retain it.

“If people are not legally entitled to have a medical card then they should not have that card…anyone who is legally entitled has nothing to worry about here. They are not going to lose their cards”

Dr Reilly said some 250,000 medical cards have been issued since he became minister. “In terms of income, GPs are winning,” Dr Reilly said.

“I think we need a new contract with a new model of care where the chronic illnesses are looked after, where prevention is a focus.”

“I don’t believe GPS need to be doing some of the work that they’re doing - some of the work that they’re doing can be done by other people.”

“It goes right back to my principle underlying the health service which is that patients should be treated at the lowest level of complexity that’s safe, timely, efficient and as near to home as possible.”