THE HEALTH Service Executive spent €55 million last year on hiring taxis, it has emerged. Senior HSE management, which has produced the figure in response to a parliamentary question, said that the amount spent on taxis had reached “unsustainable levels”.
The HSE’s national director for integrated services, performance and financial management, Laverne McGuinness, said the level of increase in spending on taxis had occurred against the background of a significantly reduced budget.
She said that this made it essential “that available resources are targeted at those patients most in need”.
The HSE statement did not specify whether the €55 million bill related to taxis used by patients, by staff or both.
Ms McGuinness said in a reply drawn up for Charlie McConalogue of Fianna Fáil in mid-July that there was no statutory requirement for the HSE to provide or arrange transport services for patients.
She said that such services were provided by the HSE “on a discretionary basis as opposed to there being a mandatory requirement for provision”.
Ms McGuinness said the transportation of patients was primarily a role for family members.
“In the first instance, the HSE would expect that family members should transport their relatives wherever possible to attend day centres, day hospitals and other services,” she said.
“The provision or arrangement by the HSE of patient transport is confined to circumstances where the HSE is satisfied that the patient’s medical condition warrants the making of arrangements for transport and [is] satisfied that the person is not in a position to make or fund his or her own transport arrangements.”
Ms McGuinness said that where any patient was not eligible for HSE patient transport services, they could seek financial assistance towards the cost of transport by contacting a community welfare officer within the social protection service.
While in opposition the Minister for Health James Reilly criticised the HSE’s high-level of expenditure on taxis. He maintained that savings needed to be made on transport instead of painful cutbacks to patient services.
He said that while there was a need to provide transport for patients, the high amount spent, especially on staff taxis, triggered alarm bells.
In the past, the HSE has defended its overall use of taxis. It has said that HSE vehicles were prioritised for front-line emergency work and that it was more cost-effective to use taxis for patients and clients who were not acutely ill rather than investing in a fleet of vehicles of its own to be used for this purpose.
It suggested that if it used its own vehicles, it would also face additional costs including the provision of staff 24 hours a day, maintenance, fuel, insurance and tax.
