WEEKEND SERVICES provided by an out-of-hours GP co-op operating in Cork and Kerry are to be cut back significantly in some areas, it was claimed yesterday.
The Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) said the plan to cut services had been outlined to it by management of SouthDoc, which wants to cut 4.4 of the 30 full-time equivalent nursing posts from the service due to funding difficulties.
INO local industrial relations officer Michael Dineen said it was proposed that nursing hours at the Killarney and Tralee treatment centres operated by SouthDoc would be curtailed by 8½ hours at weekends. Nursing hours were to be eliminated completely at weekends from the Clonakilty centre.
He said the proposals had come about due to a €600,000 shortfall in SouthDoc funding from the Health Service Executive.
The HSE denied cutting its funding.
Mr Dineen said the proposed cuts, which also included a cut in the hours of drivers and receptionists, were extremely short-sighted and had the capacity to impact significantly on patients. Nurses had administered life-saving treatment at the centres at weekends.
“We are seeking that the proposals announced by the company to date would be independently reviewed from a clinical perspective to establish if they are safe in the first instance, and if they give an appropriate service to the public, particularly in areas where emergency facilities do not exist such as in Clonakilty,” he said.
A spokeswoman for SouthDoc said it had no comment to make on the INO’s claims.
The HSE said the funding provided to SouthDoc for 2008 facilitated it to provide a continuation of the level of services provided in 2007 and previous years.
“The funding provided to SouthDoc in 2007 was €9.4 million which included additional once-off essential funding needed to upgrade the computer and IT systems (€400,000). In 2008 the agreed budget is €8.99 million.”
Labour’s health spokeswoman Jan O’Sullivan said cuts in SouthDoc services would result in more people turning up at crowded AE units.
“Any cuts in these services will impact severely on the public and patients in emergency situations. The SouthDoc on-call service is a vital service for communities and received 182,000 calls last year.”
The proposed cuts are due to come before a Labour Relations Commission hearing on Tuesday.