HSE West says it has no option but to cut almost €50 million in public health costs by the end of this year.
There is "no question" of carrying an overrun over to next year, when there could be further budget reductions of €600 million to €700 million nationally, HSE West regional director of operations John Hennessy has said.
However, "serious efforts" will be made to recoup a sum of €10 million to HSE West by private health insurers for over a year, he told today's HSE West regional health forum at Merlin Park Hospital, Galway.
A sum of €12 million would be saved every month from now until the end of the year by cutting temporary staff by 7,000 hours per week, he said.
Further measures would include controlling a €5 million annual absenteeism and sick leave bill and redeploying corporate and support staff from headquarters to hospitals, as part of the €12 million monthly savings, he said.
HSE West had started the year with a projected €130 million deficit, part of which was a "carry over " from 2009. It had reduced this incrementally to a projected deficit of €49.5 million by the end of August, he said.
Management was working with unions, the Labour Relations Commission and "most recently, the Labour Court" on reducing temporary staff numbers, he said, and absenteeism was also "much too high".
"Our priority is to ensure that people who genuinely need help do have that,"Mr Hennessy said, specifying cancer care, cardiac services, home help and disability services. He said that he accepted there would be "some deficits", but that overall savings had been achieved "quite well".
"It would be incorrect for me to say that this [the savings] can be achieved without impacting on patients, but the aim is to reduce this to the minimum,"Mr Hennessy said, in response to questions from councillors. Patients in front-line services and receiving home help would only ever be affected "as a last resort", he said.
However, this was disputed by several local authority representatives, with Roscommon councilor Tony Ward (Ind) staying that he did not accept that homecare packages and home help hours were being provided efficiently.
Mr Hennessy told members that all areas would be affected. "If one area overspends, it will impact on other areas of the service,"he warned. HSE West had a "legal obligation" to break even by the end of the year, he said.
Galway county councillor Colm Keaveney (Lab) said that he calculated the savings of 7,000 hours in temporary staff weekly amounted to 180 jobs.
Galway-based consultant trauma and orthopaedic surgeon Bill Curtin warned earlier today of more pain and hardship for patients in the west of Ireland.
Commenting before the forum meeting, Mr Curtin told RTE that "the people of the west of Ireland will not be able to access the same level of services as before. It means that people will be waiting longer, have more pain, more disability and in the end more hardship and perhaps a risk of greater problems".
Mr Curtin said that Merlin Park Hospital in Galway had already lost a ward and was left with a single ward, less than 30 beds for the population of the entire west of Ireland.
Mr Curtin said that while he understood the budgetary issues, there would be "implications for patient care".
The controversy over health cuts in the west came into sharp focus last week when Independent TD for Galway West Noel Grealish, who is not a member of the forum, said that he could no longer support the Government until the issue had been clarified.
Mr Grealish said that he came to his decision after he was told at a private briefing attended by Dr David O'Keeffe and other HSE West management that implementation of a €19.7 million budget cut on health services in Galway would have a "huge impact" on patient care.
Mr Grealish said that Dr O'Keeffe explained that local health services had already been stretched to "breaking point", and no further cuts could be implemented without a risk to patient safety.