HSE accused of Mid-West ‘vendetta’

THE national Health Service Executive (HSE) has been accused of pursuing a “vendetta” against health services in the Mid-West by imposing an extra €19 million of cuts in community health services in the region.
IMPACT has warned that health services in Clare will be badly hit this year after the Mid-West was forced to take a much higher proportion of cuts compared to other regions in the HSE West Forum area, which stretches from Donegal to North Tipperary.
Councillor Brian Meaney claimed Ennis Hospital could lose up to €1 million in funding this year, despite staying within budget last year.
IMPACT assistant general secretary for the Mid-West, Andy Pike, claimed there is no explanation as to why much larger cuts will be implemented in the region’s hospitals and community services than any other part of the HSE West.
“This is by far the worst set of health budgets we have seen. Given the poor state of the economy we were expecting health spending to contract by 5%. No-one expected cuts of this magnitude.
“For the Mid-Western Regional Hospitals to lose 13% of their money is concerning, as fresh resources are the only real solution to the problems of overcrowding and under-capacity.
“What is more concerning is the raid on community health budgets by the national HSE and the closure of so many hospital beds. This is a disgrace and I can only conclude that someone, somewhere in the HSE is pursuing a vendetta against the Mid-West and our health services. “Why else would the cuts fall so heavily in this area which has unique problems due to social exclusion?” he asked.
“These cuts should be reversed and there is no justification for treating the Mid-West less favourably than other regions within HSE Area West. This is a scandal that should not be allowed to stand and we call on Health Minister James Reilly to intervene directly to reverse the cuts and ensure that the Mid-West is treated fairly and given its proper share of funding,” he said.
The overall budget reductions for HSE services across Area West for 2012 as announced are approximately 5%. The budget reduction in the Galway (Western) group of acute hospitals is 10.5% or €32.6 million whereas the Mid-West hospital budgets will be cut by 12.9% or €28.7million.
In community services, Mr Pike claimed the HSE has imposed an additional €19m worth of cuts in the Mid-West, on top of the average 5% reduction, which results in a total reduction in spending of 13.4% from 2011 levels.
He explained the latest cutback is being introduced after staff, unions and management made significant efforts to reduce spending in the third quarter through pausing services, eliminating agency use and reducing overtime and other expenditure to prevent a €30 million overrun.
“Most of this programme of cost reduction was not sustainable or intended to last for 12 months, these were temporary measures to bring spending back into line. However, senior HSE management have now determined that baseline spending will, in 2012, be based on the spending pattern during the third quarter of 2011 thus providing a baseline allocation which is €19m lower than anticipated,” he said.
HSE West Forum member, Councillor Brian Meaney, praised IMPACT for obtaining the necessary information that outlined the scale of the cuts facing Clare health services.
Councillor Meaney warned these latest cuts are on top of the historical disparity already experienced by health services in the Mid-West.
Queries to the National HSE press office were redirected to the HSE Forum West, which hadn’t responded at the time of going to press.