Child healthcare schemes at risk in wake of cuts

Child health screening and school immunisation programmes could be under threat as a direct result of deepening health service budget cuts.

The latest and final HSE local service plan for this year — for the Dublin Mid-Leinster region — has stated vital illness prevention programmes will continue in the area but were “dependent on available resources”.

The statement is detailed among €125m worth of cuts and service changes for the region which will be implemented this year.

According to the 132- page document, local health service managers plan to continue the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine programme (a potential defence for cervical cancer). Child health screening and school immunisation schemes, such as those targeting measles, are also to be continued.

However, most of these programmes run the risk of being curtailed as they are “dependent on available resources”.

The document also details plans to slash 111 public nursing home beds from the local system; cut patient transport expenditure by 50% and close more hospital beds after consultation with staff.

Regional director Gerry O’Dwyer said the region faces “serious challenges” involving rosters, staff levels and ensuring services on reduced budgets.

While the Dublin Mid- Leinster region has seen its population increase by 8.46% since 2006, to 1.319 million people, according to last year’s census, it has witnessed repeated cuts to its health service budget during this period.

Over the past fortnight, similar cuts to the HSE South, HSE West and HSE Dublin North East have also been confirmed.

The cutbacks come at a time when the HSE’s latest performance monitoring report, for December, shows one in three people in Ireland are still eligible for a medical card.

The figures show that, in December, 1.68 million people were eligible for the State medical support.

While this is down slightly from last summer, the statistics show how the recession continues to impact on people’s healthcare requirements and on funds available to the State.

* All performance monitoring reports and HSE service plan documents are available at www.hse.ie.

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