700 new hospital beds on way for 2003

Political Reporter

But critics rejected this claim and warned that unless the country's 11 health boards were slashed patients would be facing the most severe cuts in services since the eighties.

The Irish Hospitals Consultants Association (IHCA) claimed that the health services were now top heavy with bureaucracy and that salaries were eating up 70% of the entire budget.

"Savings must not be made at the expense of patients - cuts must be made on those most remote from patient care - the administrators," IHCA secretary general Finbarr Fitzpatrick added

Only one in every 13 new staff appointed to the health services in recent years were directly involved in treating sick people.

The minister will have to rationalise the health boards or else patient care would be put at risk, Mr Fitzpatrick warned.

Fine Gael and Labour also warned that hospital managers will have to impose savage cuts on beds, nurses, doctors and patient services unless the country's 11 health boards are rationalised.

Dublin hospitals are already facing a 100 million deficit before they go into next year and cutbacks on their budgets, Fine Gael's health spokeswoman Olivia Mitchell claimed.

"Rationalising the health boards must be part of any root and branch reform of the health service," Ms Mitchell added.

Labour's health spokeswoman Liz McManus echoed this view and said health boards will have to be streamlined. But Mr Martin rejected the claim that patient services will be cut unless the health boards are slashed and administration costs were cut back severely.

Mr Martin said that while his department will not have the same level of increases next year there will be a sufficient budget of almost 9 billion to keep services going.

"I do not accept that any patient services will be cut and there will be 709 extra beds in the system by early next year," the minister added.

Responding to the calls to rationalise the health boards so that savings can be made in administration costs instead of patient services, the minister said:

"This is a black and white approach - there is a root and branch audit of the operation of the 50 health agencies currently being carried out I will not make any decision until these consultants have completed their work next January."

Mr Martin said the department is ahead of its target to provide 3,000 extra hospital beds over the next 10 years.