THE HSE has recorded a deficit of more than €100 million in the first four months of the year, according to new data given to the board of the organisation earlier this week.
It is now expected that intensified efforts will be put in place in various parts of the country – particularly in the west – in a bid to rein in the financial overrun before the end of the year.
The financial report given to the HSE board last Thursday was the first to be produced since the ending of controversial industrial action by staff in protest at pay cuts. The industrial action left the HSE at corporate level effectively blind as to its true financial picture in the organisation.
The financial report says that the HSE overall recorded a deficit of €100.5 million up to the end of April; €98 million of this was recorded in the hospital sector.
The report says that hospitals in the western region – which runs from the midwest to Donegal – collectively had an overrun of more than €36 million.
Informed sources say there is likely to be an intensification of efforts to generate cost-savings in the months ahead.
This is likely to involve further moves to have more people treated as day patients rather than as in-patients.
There is also likely to be further efforts to save on procurement and to tackle issues such as absenteeism.
The financial report also warns that the HSE is not on target to meet the level of staff reductions envisaged by the Government.
The recruitment of additional staff to support service developments under its service plan agreed with the Government was contingent on the organisation reducing its headcount by more than 1,500 this year.
“The trend in retirements to April 2010 is not sufficient to achieve the full-year target of 1,520. Were the current pattern to persist, the number would be closer to 1,000.
“The impact of this would be to under-achieve the moratorium savings already deducted from the HSE and therefore require additional savings. This would be offset by a lower total pension payment in 2012.
“There is also evidence that the reductions to pay for 2010, as received in the estimate for 2010, were €49 million higher than the likely real savings,” the report adds. “This can be further analysed when the detailed financial data on pay is available.
The HSE report also warns that it may not achieve a target of generating an additional €75 million in income from private patients treated in public hospitals which was set by the Department of Health and the Department of Finance.
“We do know that the level of private insurance in the population is reducing and we are already seeing evidence of a drop in the number of patients presenting with private insurance,” the report says.
“The additional income target of €75 million will be difficult to achieve in this context.
“The process of accelerating income collection is recommencing following the conclusion of the industrial action.”