A number of hospitals are this week drawing up plans to cut services further in an effort to rein in costs and reduce their financial deficits.
Management at Galway Regional Hospitals (University College Hospital and Merlin Park Regional Hospital) is to decide this week which of three units to close.
The units being considered for closure include a stroke rehabilitation unit and an orthopaedic unit at Merlin Park and a 19-bed geriatric unit at University College Hospital.
Meanwhile, Dublin's Beaumont Hospital told unions representing staff yesterday that it was looking at a wide range of measures to cut costs.
The move comes in the wake of news that the hospital had overrun its budget by more than €19 million at the end of August.
Eddie Mathews of the Irish Nurses Organisation (INO), who attended the Beaumont meeting, said the hospital was looking at reducing costs in all areas including in the area of laboratory testing. But he said there was no mention of any imminent closure of beds or job cuts.
A hospital spokesman said later that the meeting with unions was "useful". He said the hospital's finances were discussed. Any measures taken to reduce the hospital's deficit would not affect patient services or care, he added.
In the west, management at University College Hospital Galway (UCHG) has been urged not to close a 19-bed geriatric ward there.
Correspondence sent by a senior doctor in the hospital to management and seen by The Irish Times states that the proposed closure of St Rita's ward "will deny appropriate care to more than half of the stroke patients in the county".
It added that it was disturbing to note that of the 25 wards in UCHG and Merlin Park, the two units dedicated to problems for older persons were those earmarked for closure as well as an orthopaedic ward where more than 90 per cent of the workload involves joint replacement in older patients.
"The overspend in HSE West occurred across the board and the cutbacks aimed at reining in costs should likewise affect all services as a matter of equity and fairness," the letter continued.
Latest HSE figures show UCHG had overspent its budget by €11.8 million and Merlin Park Hospital had overspent its budget by €1.2 million at the end of August.
No figures are available yet for the position at the end of September.
Tomorrow the HSE's decision to put in place a recruitment ban to cut costs is to be discussed at a special sitting of the Labour Relations Commission. Health service unions sought the hearing, claiming it was in breach of Towards 2016.
The HSE, which has an overall deficit of more than €200 million, said it would review the ban at the end of this month but unions now fear it will continue until the end of the year.