Record health funds but no windfall for cancer

HEALTH spending is to increase by 9% to a record €16.2 billion next year but speculation of a huge cash injection for cancer services in the wake of recent controversies proved off the mark.

Health Minister Mary Harney announced an additional €35 million for cancer services next year — but that sum is to cover the continued roll-out of BreastCheck and the commencement of the national cervical cancer screening programme as well as the increase in radiation services and the massive task of reorganising all services into eight centres of excellence.

Ms Harney was unable to put the increase into percentage terms to compare it with last year’s spending as expenditure on cancer is mixed in with spending on general surgery, diagnosis and therapeutic services in hospitals, but she said she believed the amount was “significant”.

Newly appointed head of cancer control Professor Tom Keane would be working to identify the existing resources already used in hospitals on cancer patients, she said, and he would also take charge of the additional €35m fund.

“It’s not all about additionality,” she said. “We have 70 surgeons in Ireland doing breast surgery and we only need 20-30, so in some area we will not need additional people.”

The 9% increase in the health budget — in money terms €1.1bn — is less than in previous years but Ms Harney said it was still twice the average rate of increase in the EU.

“It’s not as large as in other years and it will require very prudent management, by the Health Service Executive in particular,” she said. “The focus has to be on getting more out of what we put in.”

Potential problems facing the health purse next year, however, include benchmarking awards to health staff and the pledge to reduce the nurses working week to 37.5 hours from next June.

Those changes are not provided for in the €16.2bn and Ms Harney said they would require sanction of additional resources. “That is going to be a big, big challenge,” she said.

As well as funding the start of the cervical cancer screening programme, due to begin next March, the budget also provides for the new “Fair Deal” initiative that will allocate €135m in supports for long term nursing home care for older people. Ms Harney said she expected legislation setting up the initiative to be completed in the next 10 days.

The bulk of the health budget is for current spending with about €700m allocated to capital projects. An extra €50m was allocated to disability services.

A sum of €35m has been set aside for compensation for women who underwent needless hysterectomies under the Lourdes Hospital Redress Scheme.

On the revenue raising side, a €6 increase in accident and emergency charges and a 10% increase in bed charges for private patients will take effect from January 1 and patients claiming money back under the drug refund scheme will have to pay the first €90 of their monthly bill in future, as opposed to €85 at present.