Mayo General Hospital’s budget for 2009 has overrun by €1.9 million during the first few months of the year. The budget for 2009 stands at €82.9 million, a cut of €2.6 million on 2008, but the hospital is struggling to make the savings.
More cuts will have to be made at the hospital if the 2009 budget is to be met, an HSE regional forum meeting heard on Tuesday.
However the HSE is struggling to make the necessary savings to “balance the books”, and spending is in line with last year a senior health service official told the HSE West forum meeting on Tuesday.
The latest round of cutbacks will include a reduction in overtime, allowances, administration, temporary ward closures, theatre closures, and training while at the same time trying to improve efficiencies.
Basically hospital workers will have to do in five days what they previously did in seven, the meeting was told. In-patient work will be done through the outpatient department and moves to conduct surgery on the day a patient is admitted are on the cards.
Health Minister Mary Harney has expressed the view that the service should be able to achieve the same level of activity in 2009 as in 2008, but how this will happen remains to be seen, according to Dr Sean Conroy, director of the HSE West regional health office.
Already cost saving measures have been put in place but they are not enough to meet the budget cuts. All of the hospitals in the western hospital group are operating at an overspend of €10 million. More stringent cost saving measures will have to be implemented to meet the €25 million cuts to the western group.
Mr Conroy presented the figures to elected representatives at Tuesday’s meeting in Merlin Park, Galway. He said the same number of staff are more or less employed by the service as in 2007.
One outspoken Galway councillor, Padraig Conneely, pointed out that there was at least €1 million worth of staff sitting at the top table at Tuesday’s meeting and pointed out that cutbacks should start at the top.
Mr Conroy said health service staff would go to the ends of the earth to look after sick people.
Mayo councillor Tim Quinn said it was essential people have confidence in the HSE. He said the message should go out from the meeting that the HSE members are confident in the health service. He said isolated incidents get too much publicity while the day to day work of the service and the great work that staff do does not get the publicity they deserve.
Cllr Austin Francis O’Malley raised the issue of home help. He said people get home help from Monday to Friday but are left like “animals in a shed” from Friday afternoon to Monday morning. “It is inhumane to leave elderly people in this way,” he added.
He said the €2.6 million cuts being sought at Mayo General this year will put people at a disadvantage. But Mr Conroy assured him that people will not ever be turned away from the hospital, despite the “grim financial situation”.
Another official explained that home help is provided on a need’s basis. He admitted there was a need to increase home help, but the budget for this service hadn’t increased significantly which poses a challenge.
Cllr Quinn, a businessman, said he recognised how important it was to reduce wastage and run the system efficiently.
He suggested a helicopter service should be based at either Sligo or Knock to service the western seaboard. He said if it saved one life it would be worth it.
He also asked the health service executive to talk to Minister Eamon Ó Cuív about using the rural transport scheme to bring patients to hospital appointments, particularly with the cancer centre of excellence being located in Galway.
Mr Conroy said a feasibility study has been conducted on the air ambulance idea and he promised to get a report on the rural transport initiative.
