Reilly wants health cuts plan to be 'more ambitious'

MINISTER FOR Health James Reilly is to ask the Health Service Executive to redraft its service plan for 2012, which proposes wide-ranging cuts to frontline services.

Cuts in home-help hours were among proposals Dr Reilly found unacceptable in the draft service plan. He wants the HSE to redraft it before he presents it to Cabinet for approval.

The plan is the legal agreement between the HSE and the Government on how its €13 billion budget will be spent this year. It was presented to Dr Reilly last month and will be brought to Cabinet for final approval by January 13th.

Under the plan, the budget for primary care/community demand- led services was set to fall by €51 million. However, a new target to save €124 million on drug costs was also proposed. A 5.5 per cent cut in home-help hours was also included.

In the mental health area, the plan said there would be closures of core service elements such as acute in-patient beds, acute community services and high-dependency continuing care.

A spokesman for the Minister said Dr Reilly was hoping the HSE would produce a “more ambitious plan” which would “require the system to become more productive in a better and more innovative way”.

The cuts to home-help hours were unacceptable given there were already too many people in long-term care, he said.

Dr Reilly also wanted to see “more ambitious targets” for day surgery and changes to the way services were delivered, the spokesman said.

The draft plan envisaged cuts in funding for hospitals of between 3 and 7 per cent, depending on the financial deficit being carried over by each hospital. It suggested activity levels in hospitals may fall by 5 per cent next year.

Earlier yesterday Dr Reilly said he was unhappy about parts of the plan, in particular that “a 5 per cent cut in budget means a 5 per cent cut in activity”.

“That is not acceptable. We have to find other ways of achieving the budget requirements and at the same time maintain service to the best extent possible,” he said.

“I acknowledge there may be some reductions in service but to start off the year with the white flag up saying there is going to be a reduction of X per cent, to me that’s not acceptable.”

Dr Reilly said he was concerned about the departure of an estimated 3,200 HSE staff, who have expressed an interest in leaving by the end of February to avail of particular pension arrangements. He said the service plan would have to be reviewed in March when the extent of the departures was known.