It cost in excess of €4.25 million to run the WestDOC out-of-hours service last year, the Fine Gael spokesperson on community, rural, and Gaeltacht affairs, Deputy Michael Ring, has discovered.
He had queried the Minister for Health, Mary Harney, in the Dáil on the running costs of the service, providing GP care to patients of participating GPs in the HSE West region. In a reply from the HSE, Deputy Ring was informed €2,551,915 was expended in payments to the 58 staff in the period January to December last. Non HSE pay amounted to €1,720,850, making a total of €4,272,765.
The breakdown in staff numbers showed there were 14 nurse and nurse management staff, 15 management and clerical support staff, and 29 drivers. The HSE also revealed one new vehicle was purchased in the period. Deputy Ring said this was a very high level of expenditure on WestDOC and questioned if it was value for money. “A greater analysis is needed to find out if this is the best use of resources and if the expenditure is proving beneficial to the general public who avail of it,” concluded Deputy Ring.
