THE BUDGETS provided by the HSE to acute hospitals across the State for this year have been reduced dramatically compared to last year’s allocations.
New figures indicate €142 million has been cut this year from the overall budget for acute hospitals in the HSE West region which stretches from Donegal to Limerick.
Fine Gael Dublin West TD Leo Varadkar said he had received information indicating the budget of Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown was being cut by €13 million this year.
However, the HSE said much of the reductions could be explained by the fact that hospitals require less money to pay staff this year due to public sector pay cuts.
Given that HSE chief executive Prof Brendan Drumm has already confirmed 1,100 acute hospital beds will be closed this year, this could also be a factor in hospital budgets being reduced.
Mr Varadkar said Connolly Hospital’s budget was being cut from €103 million to €90 million, a cut of 12.6 per cent. “Around €5.5 million of this is a reflection of pay cuts imposed in the budget. But the hospital is now expected to find another €7.5 million in savings on top of this,” he said.
The HSE Northeast confirmed the hospital’s allocation in 2010 is €90 million but it said “much of the reduction in 2010 is cost neutral, mainly due to the effects of the public sector pay reductions”.
The net budget reduction for the hospital was in the region of €5 million, the HSE said.
Meanwhile, in a document circulated to members of the HSE West Forum, the HSE confirmed that Galway University Hospital will see its budget cut by €43 million from €290 million to €247 million, Limerick Regional Hospital’s budget will be reduced by €28 million from €163.8 million to €135.3 million; Sligo Hospital will have its budget cut from €119.6 million to €101.3 million; while the budget for Letterkenny Hospital is being cut from €114.2 million to €97.8 million.
Fine Gael health spokesman Dr James Reilly said the cuts would affect patient care resulting in longer waiting lists, cancelled operations and ward closures.
A spokeswoman for HSE West said: “From a service perspective, less funding is required for salaries in 2010 in hospitals, and there have been significant reductions in drug costs recently, which will impact positively on the 2010 budget.”