HSE West director defends €30m overspend

THE DIRECTOR of HSE West, Dr Seán Conroy, yesterday defended a €30 million overspend this year in operating the region’s hospitals, saying patients do not have heart attacks or have babies according to budget.

Dr Conroy was speaking at a meeting of the HSE West hospitals’ committee where members were told the cost overrun in the western hospital group was €22 million and in the midwest hospital group was €8 million to the end of July.

Senior HSE officials John Doyle and Alan Moran confirmed to members that bed closures would take place in the hospital network that serves an area stretching from Limerick to Donegal.

Speaking on the €22.7 million overspend to €403 million in the western hospital group, Mr Moran said the HSE would not be able to break even in the area by the end of the year, but increased efficiencies, bed closures and staff reductions would cut the deficit.

He said the western hospital group was delivering more services with less money this year. Last year, the spend was €687 million and this year the budget has been cut by €27 million.

Addressing the situation facing the midwest hospital group, Mr Doyle said the acute hospital network had an overrun of €8 million to the end of July, but he was confident the network would break even by the end of the year.

He said the year-to-date budget provided for a spend of €150.9 million, but there had been an overspend of €8.1 million.

Mr Doyle said the network would achieve close to break even through bed closures, a cut in discretionary spending and on overtime and agency staff.

However, chairman of the HSE West Regional Forum, Cllr Pádraig Conneely (FG), raised concerns over the impact cutbacks were having on patient care at Galway University Hospital (GUH). He read excerpts of an internal HSE memo written by the outgoing general manager of GUH, Bridget Howley, last June where she said the proposed cutbacks would no longer allow GUH to be able to function as one of eight designated cancer centres.

Dr Conroy said the overspend of €8.3 million at GUH had avoided the cutbacks warned of by Ms Howley. He said that prior to this year, the HSE had enjoyed bigger and bigger budgets. “Now, instead the spending increases have stopped and have come to zero. The bottom line is that a halt has been put to the spending increases, but it has not been possible to meet the spending decrease.”

He said: “Patients don’t have heart attacks according to budget, or women don’t have babies according to budget.”