Hospitals have been told to make savings of €150 million next year, despite an increase in their budgets from the Health Service Executive.
Overall spending on hospitals is being cut by almost 1 per cent in 2015 compared to this year, but this represents a 6.2 per cent increase in the original budget for this year. The State’s 48 acute hospitals overspent their budgets by €268 million this year.
The HSE has warned hospitals “rapid engagement” on budgets will be necessary in early January to agree costs and savings measures for 2015. “These measures will need to be quickly put in place so that the hospital system reaches an affordable level of cost by the middle of February as otherwise the adjustment, if spread over a shorter period to year end, will be too great.”
The warning is made in a series of operational plans published on Friday by the HSE, which sets out its priorities for 2015 in the areas of acute hospitals, mental health, palliative care, social care, health and wellbeing and primary care.
The plan requires acute hospitals to make savings of € 40 million in spending on agency staff and overtime, € 23 million on procurement and € 10 million on emergency department income. Another €77 million will be saved through “other required savings to achieve breakdown”.
The plans provide for further progress in developing hospital groups and in integrating paediatric services in advance of the opening of the new national children’s hospital. Improvements in maternity services and cancer treatment are also envisaged.
As already announced, 300 places are being funded on the Fair Deal scheme as well as 115 extra short-stay beds in the Dublin area in order to alleviate pressures caused by an increase in delayed discharge patients.
Home care packages for an additional 600 people are being funded as well as four new community intervention teams. Some 65 beds are to be provided in the former Mount Carmel hospital in south Dublin. The total cost of these interventions is € 25 million.
The plans provided for the extension of free GP care to under-6s and all over-70s by the second quarter of 2015, at a cost of € 37 million.
According to the plan, the HSE will start monitoring patients aged over 75 years attending emergency departments to see how quickly they are admitted or discharged.
