Health reaction: Many of the health services which are to be funded next year under the Estimates and which have been branded as new were in fact announced previously, the Fine Gael health spokesman Dr Liam Twomey claimed last night.
He said some of the money for A&E improvements went back to the Minister for Health Mary Harney's 10-point plan and that other so-called new units such as the maternity unit in Cork were "just getting re-announced because the Government hadn't got around to doing what it promised to do in 2006".
He said the health Estimates contained "precious little" to comfort those patients still on trolleys in A&E or those awaiting elective procedures in hospitals, which were often cancelled.
"Most galling of all is the €300 million underspend on the previous year's Estimates. This underspend could have provided, for example, 2,000 more public health nurses, five million homehelp hours or 400 stepdown beds," he added.
Labour's health spokeswoman, Liz McManus, called on Ms Harney to make a statement to clarify "the seemingly odd allocations to different HSE regions. While the HSE North Eastern Area will receive additional current spending allocation of 12 per cent, the HSE Mid-Western area receives an increase of only 3 per cent," she said.
She also criticised the capital allocation to the HSE, which she claimed was less than in 2006. "It comes despite the assessment last month by the ESRI that 2,200 additional acute hospital beds will be needed over the next ten years. There is also a requirement for at least 1,400 additional community care beds to provide adequate care for elderly people and to relieve pressures in A&Es," she said.
She accused Ms Harney of "relying on tax-driven super-private clinics to plug the gap". Sinn Féin's health spokesman Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin said that while the health budget had risen, the reality was that it continued to be ploughed into a system that was both inefficient and inequitable because of the two-tier delivery of healthcare.
"There is no strategy or special funding allocation for the provision of the additional 3,000 acute hospital beds needed. The HSE says that number is not needed while the Minister continues to pay lip-service to the Government's commitment to deliver them. The reality is that this commitment has been dumped, together with much of the Government's 2001 Health Strategy, including the Primary Care Strategy," he added.