The Eastern Regional Health Authority (ERHA) plan to stop the influx of patients from other areas using its hospitals is "akin to moving deckchairs on the Titanic", the Labour Party said today.
A report on problem put the estimated cost of treating patients from other health board areas in 2001 at €174 million. These patients were also "placing pressure on limited resources in the east," the report said.
It proposed that all GPs should now be asked to refer patients to their local specialist at their local hospital first and only then be referred to the east if appropriate treatment cannot be provided locally.
But Labour's health spokeswoman, Ms Liz McManus, said she was concerned that the ERHA was "limiting access to treatment for patients in other parts of the country and increasing pressure on local hospitals".
She said the problem of patients waiting for care was being relocated.
"The inescapable fact is that these proposals are the direct result of Government cutbacks in the major Dublin Hospitals that have seen wards closed and overall capacity reduced".