Shortfall of €14m in HSE dialysis services funding

ONLY a third of the cash required to meet the increasing demand for life-saving dialysis services this year has been provided in the Health Service Executive’s (HSE) spending plans, new figures reveal.

Just €6 million has been allocated by the health authority for the purchase of dialysis services this year, which is far short of the €20m needed with the growth in demand, according to the Irish Kidney Association (IKA).

IKA chief executive Mark Murphy said the money would only be enough to pay for the treatment of 86 patients in a private hospital over the year.

A total of 1,500 patients are on dialysis and 150 newly diagnosed patients starting treatment this year will put even more pressure on the over-burdened facilities across the country.

The private sector is also being relied on to meet the growing need and, at €70,000 per patient, it is also very expensive.

Mr Murphy said patients were having to go on dialysis throughout the night so existing facilities could be used.

It is understood that the as yet unpublished Report of the National Renal Strategy Review Group is calling for €55m to be spent over the next three years on bringing the country’s renal services up to an acceptable international standard.

The report is also expected to say that the number of patients per dialysis station should be reduced from eight to five.

The €6m is listed in a purchase intention notice by the HSE on the website for Irish Public Tenders.

The notice stated that the money was for “dialysis materials” but Mr Murphy said that he believed the spending allocation could only be for dialysis services.

A spokeswoman for the HSE said the code “dialysis materials” was determined and classified by the EU and not by the health authority.

She added that it did not take account of existing contracts.

Mr Murphy believed there was an unwillingness on the part of the Government to tackle the problem head-on and that it was relying on interim measures instead.

“The 100-page report is now with the Government but it has still not been adopted as policy,” he pointed out.

Of the 144 transplant procedures performed last year, three were living donor transplants.

Mr Murphy pointed out it was planned to increase the number of living donor transplants to 15 this year, and Dublin’s Beaumont Hospital already had the money to reach this target.

The National Renal Strategy Review Group was established in 2002 by former Minister for Health, Micheál Martin, but did not really get down to work until late in 2005.