THE HEAD of the HSE has told his 100,000 staff to switch off unnecessary lights and heat in an effort to make further cuts of some €130 million between now and the end of the year.
Senior health managers were last night working on a package of cuts designed to meet the target set by the Government.
These are expected to include a curtailment of the medical card scheme, restrictions on drugs and reductions in overtime and the use of agency staff.
Cuts to home-help and home-card packages are also being examined, according to informed sources. Some of the cutbacks will be introduced within days.
Yesterday, the head of the HSE, Tony O’Brien, urged staff to consider all measures to reduce costs, including turning off unnecessary light and heat.
Minister for Health James Reilly is expected to bring proposals to Cabinet shortly on other measures for dealing with the deficit.
Mr O’Brien revealed yesterday for the first time that the deficit in the health service had reached €259 million at the end of this month. He warned that this could reach €500 million by the end of the year unless action was taken.
“We simply cannot afford to allow this deficit to occur, not least because we have a statutory responsibility to remain within budget, and any deficit at the end of this year will simply add to our challenge next year. For this reason the HSE is obliged to implement further measures to reduce expenditure in the last four months of 2012.”
Mr O’Brien said he was directing that all discretionary expenditure on items such as equipment, furniture, education, advertising, printing, office supplies, travel, telephony, energy and taxis be kept to a minimum.
“We also need to focus on eliminating waste and duplication of effort where possible. This will support us in delivering more services and lessen the need to curtail existing services.
“Tackling avoidable absenteeism must be also a priority for everyone. Sick leave should be kept to the bare minimum and taken only when truly required and absolutely necessary. The health service is currently spending a significant amount of money to replace staff who are out sick.”
Mr O’Brien said it was important for every person working in the public health service to recognise the key role that we all have to play in ensuring that we deliver services in the most economic and efficient way. “Traditional measures such as switching off unnecessary lights and heat are a key part of this effort.”
Meanwhile, according to a European Commission report which highlights the failure to implement promised reforms in the health sector, the Government appears set to restrict access to medical cards in the budget.
A draft staff report compiled following the seventh review of the EU-IMF programme said unemployed people’s entitlement to medical cards providing free access to most services contributed to current expenditure overruns in health.
The commission document said a large share of overspend in the health sector was due to the failure to manage services within approved levels and “slippage in the delivery of some of the measures envisaged in the 2012 Budget”.
The report said some money-saving measures were “one-off in nature” and may need to be replaced with “permanent structural measures” in the upcoming budget. “From this perspective, the authorities have indicated their intention to consider, in the context of Budget 2013, reforming the medical card/GMS eligibility and maximising the flexibility under the Croke Park agreement through new working models.”