Hospitals have to live within their budgets this year, the Minister for Health Dr James Reilly insisted today after attending the opening of a new intensive care unit at the State's largest children's hospital in Crumlin, Dublin.
The hospital had its budget cut by €5 million this year and had written to Dr Reilly about the cutbacks it might have to make, which include theatre closures, unless it gets more funding.
HSE hospitals overall, of which Crumlin is one, were €99 million over budget at the end of April.
Dr Reilly said that with the EU and IMF not just at the door but "in the parlour", there was no question of additional funding for hospitals this year. He stressed hospitals had to stay within budget and be answerable to the public in relation to the steps they took to achieve this.
"Nobody knows better how to manage their budget and what services should be prioritised than the clinicians and management of the given hospital or institution," he said.
The Minister met the chairman of the Crumlin hospital board, Archbishop of Dublin Dr Diarmuid Martin, prior to the opening of the new unit.
Dr Martin said afterwards he was obliged to draw the attention of the minister to the difficulties that were emerging with the hospital's finances. "I'm optimistic that we will find a way to ensure that any cutbacks will be minimal and that we'll be able to reach the end of this year in a positive way," he said.
The new intensive care unit at the hospital brings the number of ICU beds there from 21 to 25. It was funded by the HSE and built at a cost of €9.8million.