HEALTH:THE AMOUNT of funding being set aside by the Health Service Executive (HSE) to fund the day-to-day running of mental health services this year is €8.5 million less than last year.
In addition, its funding for primary and community care services is €11 million short of last year’s allocation.
The figures are contained in the Government’s latest set of health estimates published yesterday.
However, they indicate that the HSE’s allocation to a range of other areas has increased substantially.
The executive has, for example, set aside €356 million more this year to cover the cost of a range of medical card and drug-payment schemes. Greater levels of unemployment have driven up costs in this area.
In addition, its funding for disability services goes up by more than €14 million this year, and its allocation for services for older people has increased by €48 million.
However, funding for Dublin’s five main teaching hospitals and Dublin’s three maternity hospitals has been cut.
More details on its spending for 2009 will be contained in its revised service plan for this year, likely to be published today.
Meanwhile, the estimates also show funding for the National Treatment Purchase Fund has been cut by over €14 million this year, but it will still have a budget of over €90 million to try to cut waiting times for public patients by buying the care they require in private hospitals.
The budget for the National Cancer Screening Service has increased from €42.4 million last year to €67.5 million this year, but it is understood much of this is to cover the full-year cost of the national cervical cancer screening programme which commenced in September, as well as the roll-out of BreastCheck.
The funding for the Health Information and Quality Authority, which was set up to drive quality and safety in the health service, has been cut by €1.2 million.
The Department of Health’s budget for salaries, wages and allowances increases by 9 per cent to €34.9 million, but its budget for consultancy services has been cut by 33 per cent to €988,000.