Healthcare in midwest targeted for €17.6m cuts

THE HEALTH Service Executive (HSE) is proposing fresh cuts totalling €17.59 million across all services for the midwest area.

The proposed cuts – contained in a document seen by The Irish Times– are in addition to the cuts already announced for 2011.

In the HSE’s midwest “Cost Containment Plan May 2011”, the HSE is proposing €12.1 million in cuts in acute services and €5.42 million in cuts across primary care.

Ennis General Hospital is facing a budget reduction of almost €1 million, with Nenagh General Hospital facing a cut of €855,000. Midwest Regional Hospital Limerick is to sustain a cut of €440,000.

Midwest already had its budget cut by €17 million this year. However, for the first two months of this year, it has overspent its allocation by €4.8 million or 22 per cent.

The new cost-cutting plan goes further and states the proposed closure of one operating theatre at the hospital will save €800,000 with the seasonal closure of an additional theatre saving another €400,000.

The plan states “all cancer activity will be protected” at that hospital. The plan proposes to save €2 million in overtime, €1 million in medical and surgical supplies and €1 million on drugs and medicine. The HSE intends to save €250,000 through the review of consultant locum costs.

The report states €2.1 million will be saved through efficiencies at Croom Orthopaedic Hospital.

On primary care, the figures show a €2.8 million cut in grants to voluntary agencies. The plan proposes a €1 million cut that would result in the cessation of the Community Intervention Team service in north Tipperary and Clare and reduction of the service in Limerick.

The plan states: “In Tipperary, 55 per cent of contacts are directly with inpatients and cessation of this service would result in longer stays in hospital.” The document says the €220,000 cut in childcare residential services “may result in closure of one of the units”.

The plan says use of agency staff is very high in childcare services due to the moratorium and the 33 per cent reduction in agency staff would save the €220,000.

A spokeswoman for the HSE said last night: “Any proposed reduction in services must go through an approval process.”

Assistant general secretary with Impact Andy Pike said yesterday: “It is clear that clinical services to patients will be affected by these proposals. The significant reduction of nearly €3 million to providers of healthcare in the voluntary sector will be extremely difficult to deal with. The potential closure of a residential childcare unit should not be taking place and may have to be reversed.”

He added: “The rollback of primary care services calls into question the reconfiguration of acute services and the reduction in beds as this was to be offset against a much strengthened primary care service which would reduce the need for inpatient admissions.”