Patient numbers rose in the West last year

The Western Health Board's annual report for 2001 shows that 2,622 more inpatients were treated last year compared to 2000, and…

The Western Health Board's annual report for 2001 shows that 2,622 more inpatients were treated last year compared to 2000, and day cases rose by 14 per cent.

Despite a €13 million budget deficit, the board's CEO, Dr Sheelah Ryan, has said there will be no cuts in services this year. The board has approved a plan to cut its deficit to €6.5 million, or 1 per cent of its budget, by the end of the year and to defer all new developments until then.

Dr Ryan said the board was still within the top three health boards for financial performance.

In a written report, Dr Ryan blamed significant under-funding of previous years' developments as well as medical inflation for the financial difficulties. "New ways of investigating and treating the same number of patients add to costs and safer practices can be very expensive," she said.

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A directive from the Department of Health to use disposable equipment in one type of orthopaedic procedure is adding €10,000 a week for one speciality alone. Dr Ryan said no account is taken of this in funding and "virtually no capital monies have been received for equipment replacement".

Staff are to be offered unpaid leave this summer; filling of all but essential front-line clinical posts is to be delayed; and long-term temporary nursing posts are to be converted to permanent jobs to try to cut overtime costs.

Gynaecological services at University College Hospital, Galway will shut for two weeks this summer as will the medical assessment unit at Mayo General Hospital. During Galway Race week, the outpatient department in Merlin Park Hospital will close.

The annual report shows that waiting lists for eye treatment, plastic surgery, orthopaedic and general surgery were reduced in last year. A diabetic day-care centre was set up and a renal dialysis unit started at Merlin Park.

Under the cardiovascular health strategy, 52 out of 60 posts approved by the Department of Health for the region had been filled by the end of last year.

These include cardiac rehabilitation co-ordinators for all the acute hospitals and two heath promotion officers. The appointment of four community nutritionists resulted in 1,270 people receiving preventative treatment last year.

"Activity again exceeded targets, particularly in our hospitals, where efficiency continues to be recognised through case mix," the report notes.