THE HEALTH Service Executive (HSE) is planning to introduce additional cost-containment measures aimed at generating savings of €193 million over the coming months, according to confidential internal documents prepared for a meeting of its board yesterday.
Highly placed HSE sources said last night there would be "an intensification" of existing cost-containment programmes in non-frontline areas and that controversial employment restrictions would remain in place.
Informed sources said the HSE would be looking at areas such as absenteeism, travel and subsistence, insurance, improved income collection and better energy management to produce the additional savings.
The new financial report said the HSE was facing a potential overall deficit of €571 million.
However, it maintained that this could be offset by existing cost-containment plans and a proposed €170 million supplementary estimate from the Government - leaving a deficit of €193 million to be made up in the months ahead through additional measures.
The report forecasted that the various community schemes, including the demand-led drug schemes, would face a projected deficit of €153 million for the year.
It also said the hospital sector is facing a shortfall of €248 million, although it is seeking to claw back €150 million in cost-containment measures.
The report also revealed that the HSE believed it would have to seek an additional €100 million from the Government to meet a shortfall in the nursing home repayment scheme this year.
The HSE received €150 million to meet claims under the scheme this year.
However, it now believed it would have to pay out much higher amounts.
The financial report also revealed that it will need about €70 million to meet the cost of implementing the new consultant contract - for which no provision was made in the budget this year.
The HSE report said it planned to address these projected deficits through the existing cost-containment plan in hospitals, which has already generated €110 million, as well as by the provision of a corporate contingency fund of €98 million for the hospital sector.
It aimed to bridge the remainder of the projected €571 million deficit through the proposed €170 million supplementary estimates for the repayment scheme and the consultant contract and through the planned new €193 million cost-containment measures.
It is understood that the HSE board was told that controversial new pharmacy reforms had generated savings of €9 million to the end of April.
This programme was aimed at producing savings of €100 million in total over the year but was delayed by objections from pharmacists.
The union Impact last night said it had warned that further health cutbacks were on the cards and that the new HSE report had confirmed its view.
National secretary Kevin Callinan said Impact members and other healthcare workers were determined to continue with their campaign of opposition to the cuts. Nearly 30,000 Impact members in the health sector are currently engaged in industrial action against recruitment restrictions introduced by the HSE.