Pharmaceutical companies and other suppliers told some of the country’s largest hospitals they were pausing the provision of critical medicines and other goods as they were not able to pay their bills on time.
Official correspondence shows the Mater and Beaumont hospitals told the Health Service Executive late last year that critical suppliers had informed them that they were putting their accounts “on hold”.
The Mater said this was “leading to short/no supply of critical drugs and medical and surgical supplies”.
“This will lead to patients being harmed as the hospital will not have the necessary supplies to safely treat patients”, the Mater told the HSE.
Beaumont Hospital told the HSE: “It is important to share with you that in recent weeks the hospital has had instances where critical suppliers, including drug companies, suppliers of ventilators have advised they are putting Beaumont Hospital accounts on hold as the hospital has been unable to settle accounts within agreed time frames of 45 days.”
The Irish Times reported last December that the country’s largest voluntary hospitals – which are largely State funded but are run by their own boards – were in serious financial difficulties and facing the prospect of being unable to pay all staff in full before Christmas.
The chairs and chief executives of St James’s, the Mater, St Vincent’s, Tallaght and Beaumont hospitals said in a letter to the HSE in November they were collectively facing a financial shortfall of more than €100 million.
The HSE subsequently announced it would provide hospitals with a €200 million financial bailout to avoid the looming financial crisis.
Voluntary hospitals operate under a service-level agreement with the HSE which essentially sets out what they will do for the funding provided. As part of this process late last year a number of hospitals wrote side letters to accompany the agreement, setting out their concerns over funding.
A number of such letters, which have been obtained by The Irish Times, provide details of the impact of the financial difficulties being experienced by some of the hospitals at the time.
In a letter on November 29th to Sara Long, the regional chief executive of the HSE in Dublin and the northeast, the Mater hospital said it was facing a financial deficit of €24.9 million.
It said the most urgent issue facing the Mater hospital at that time was the “inability to get any decision on its cash request submitted on numerous occasions”.
“Suppliers are putting the Mater hospital accounts on hold, leading to short/no supply of critical drugs and medical & surgical supplies. This will lead to patients being harmed as the hospital will not have the necessary supplies to safely treat patients.”
In a separate letter to Ms Long on December 20th, Beaumont Hospital chief executive Anne Coyle set out broadly similar concerns.
“It is important to share with you that in recent weeks the hospital has had instances where critical suppliers, including drug companies, suppliers of ventilators have advised they are putting Beaumont Hospital accounts on hold as the hospital has been unable to settle accounts within agreed time frames of 45 days.”
Ms Coyle suggested in her letter that Beaumont Hospital would have a deficit of €66 million carried forward into 2025.
“The hospital is undertaking a comprehensive review of services provision to ensure the sustainability of the organisation. This review will involve identifying opportunities to reduce services, aligning service delivery with the available resources while prioritising patients’ safety and quality of care.”
