Drumm rejects budget cuts reports

REPORTS of budget cuts in the country’s largest hospital for sick children were rejected yesterday by the chief executive of the Health Service Executive, Prof Brendan Drumm.

He insisted the budget of Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital in Dublin had not been cut by €9 million.

Prof Drumm told a meeting of the Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: “The most recent figures received from the hospital indicate it will have a year-end shortfall of €100,000.”

He said one of the difficulties facing the hospital this year was that it had failed to reduce non-frontline spending, such as management and administration costs.

The hospital, he said, was spending almost €50,00 a day on overtime and on call, allowances, weekend and night duty payments.

Prof Drumm said the health authority was satisfied that the hospital could save €6m a year by reducing non-frontline costs.

He said the proportion of the hospital’s budget on pay at 74% was extremely high, with overtime payments amounting to €2.5m over the first five months of the year.

However, the hospital had only targeted €500,000 in savings when the HSE felt it could be in the order of €2.5m.

Prof Dumm said there would be no need for a contingency of €2.2m in relation to blood costs on top of its budgeted €4m if it was transferred to St James’s Hospital and managed within a national framework.

There was also potential for additional income to be generated from private health insurers, with the hospital generating €2m more than the €10m it was expecting to generate in this area. And, he said, it was hoped that it would be possible to re-open the closed theatre within the existing budgetary framework.

Up to May 8 last, 799 inpatient and day case procedures were carried out at the hospital, with 76 procedures cancelled because a bed was not available.

Prof Drumm also stressed that the hospital had advised the HSE that no scheduled scoliosis surgery had been cancelled this year due to cost savings. He said there were 67 patients with scoliosis who were ready for surgery and the HSE was going to work with the hospital to finalise a plan that would enable the surgery to be completed without delay.

“Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin, has and will continue to work with their colleague children’s hospitals, the HSE and any other hospitals/health agencies to maximise effectiveness and efficiencies in order to protect services for sick children,” a spokesperson said.

“The hospital will of course explore with the HSE the new proposals Prof Drumm made in his statement to the Joint Committee regarding areas where additional efficiencies and savings can be obtained.”

Labour TD Kathleen Lynch said what members of the committee had been hearing from the hospital and parents of ill children was different to the situation outlined by Prof Drumm.

Fianna Fáil TD Bobby Aylward pointed out that a family relative with scoliosis had pre-operative assessment postponed three times.