The State’s drugs budget is increasing between 9 and 10 per cent a year in a trajectory that is “unsustainable”, the secretary general of the Department of Health has said.
Officials from the department and the Health Service Executive appeared before the Oireachtas health committee on Wednesday morning to provide an update on the sector.
Robert Watt, secretary general, said the current drugs budget was €3.7 billion.
“The trajectory is unsustainable ... We are engaging in negotiations, hopefully the next few weeks, with the representative bodies of the pharmaceutical companies. And we’ll see where we end up,” he said.
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“There’s a very significant constraint, very difficult budget challenge which all countries now face.”
Mr Watt said if you looked at the ongoing growth of drugs that have been approved for reimbursement, combined with new drugs that are coming on stream, it creates “an incredible challenge for us”.
“People can talk about Mounjaro or Ozempic or pick any class of drug or various drugs in the oncology space and the demands now and the demands that are in prospect are absolutely incredible. So there is an enormous challenge in terms of how to figure out what to support, how to support.”
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Separately, Bernard Gloster, chief executive of the HSE, provided an update on maternity services at Portiuncula hospital in Galway, where he said the HSE was beginning a review of two additional cases.
In his statement to the committee, Mr Gloster said there was a case of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), where the baby suffered insufficient oxygen or blood to the brain, reported in July.
In May, an “inpatient full-term intrauterine death” – meaning still birth – occurred and this would also be investigated, he said.
A summary report based on five reviews of babies with HIE at the hospital was published during the summer, highlighting weaknesses including space limitations and an inadequate buzzer system that could delay alerts.
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In light of the concerns highlighted in the report, from October 1st, Portiuncula will no longer accept higher-risk women for booking, and a communication plan is in place to engage with patients about this change.
Once implemented, it is expected an additional 250-300 women a year will have their care diverted to Galway University Hospital. It is acknowledged that this change will be a big challenge for all involved, in particular the staff at Portiuncula.
