DE BURCA WARNS OF LOOMING HOSPITAL CUTBACKS

According to councillor de Burca, the key to the new financial problems of public hospitals will be whether the Eastern Regional Health Authority, the agency established to oversee, finance and monitor health services in Dublin, Wicklow and Kildare, will provide additional money to reimburse the hospitals for pay awards made to doctors, nurses and other staff.

"Hospital management must pay these increased salaries which have been agreed nationally with the unions " says councillor de Burca. "However, the hospitals have not been given any indication to date whether additional state money will be provided to meet these bills or whether they will have to be paid for the existing budget allocations" she says.

Councillor de Burca points out that hospital budgets are also under pressure as a result of rapidly increasing medical inflation - largely in the cost of insurance, medical products such as new drugs for conditions such as cancer as well as the cost of new high-powered drugs and lump-sum payments to staff who are retiring.

"Without a massive injection of state funds to offset the cost of pay increases and the other issues, the hospitals will be hopelessly in the red by the end of the year" says councillor de Burca. "This will make cuts in patient services inevitable".

She points out that in a statement last weekend, the ERHA said that it would be providing hospitals in Dublin, Wicklow and Kildare with around 22 million Euro more in funding than the total they received last year.

"The public representatives in Wicklow have a responsibility to ensure that these funding commitments are met by the ERHA" says councillor de Burca. "Otherwise the people of this county can expect to experience significant cutbacks in health services over the next twelve months" she says.

For further information please contact Deirdre de Burca on 086 8061450 or email deburca@wicklowgreens.org.