THE HSE spent €10 million last year transporting kidney dialysis patients to hospitals around the country.
The HSE paid for 1,150 kidney patients to be transferred by taxi, mini-bus and private ambulance in 2007 and more than 90 patients travelled from one HSE region to another. Some of these patients had to travel because of overcrowding in their own hospital and others travelled due to a lack of local facilities.
Last year, 20 patients from the midlands travelled to Dublin three times a week to receive dialysis. At present, five dialysis stations lie redundant in Tullamore General Hospital because the hospital cannot afford to pay staff to run them.
Irish Kidney Association chief executive Mark Murphy accused the HSE of burying a report on dialysis services in Ireland due to the cost of its recommendations. Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Irelandprogramme, he said: "I am at a loss, I think it suited them because of the cost element in getting a proper system. I think they buried it."
The report, delivered to the HSE in 2006 by the National Renal Strategy Review Group, said the consequences of overcrowding are "stark" and made a series of recommendations to improve Ireland's dialysis services. It recommended the immediate provision of 101 haemodialysis stations to address congestion and estimated that €50 million in additional funding would be required.
The 2006 report also referred to the problem of patients having to travel to receive treatment and stated that: "Ideally, haemodialysis facilities should be located within a one-way drive time of less than 60 minutes for 90 per cent of the population."
It said overburdening dialysis services increased the chances of receiving an inadequate dose of dialysis and put patients at increased risk of infection.
The HSE has denied the report was "buried". A spokesman for the HSE said it has been taking steps to increase its provision of dialysis throughout the country to minimise patients' journeys where possible. "While there has been improvement in services nationally, issues remain in some areas where local capacity needs to be increased," he added.