Taoiseach: Half of tax going into healthcare
Brian Cowen said the massive extension to Cork University Hospital (CUH) is a perfect example of how the public service can be reformed under the Croke Park deal.
But he declined to outline how the feared €1 billion cut in the health budget in December will affect frontline services.
“We have finite funding. Half the total tax taken up in this country this year is going in to the health service,” he said.
“We’re taking in €32bn this year. The spend on health is about €15.5bn. We don’t have public finances at the moment to continue with the status quo.
“Service pressures represent about 4-5% of total activity. But 95% of activity is being provided at the highest possible standard to our people.”
The portrayal of the health service “in all of its complexity” as a shambles is a very lazy analysis, he said.
However, the impact of the feared €1bn cut in the health budget will not be revealed until the Government completes its estimates, he added.
Mr Cowen was speaking after passing a Sinn Féin picket over health cutbacks to open the most advanced cardiac renal care unit in the country.
Building work began in July 2007 following eight years of planning, involving the Irish Heart Foundation and the Irish Kidney Association. It cost €68m to build and €17m to equip.
All cardiac and kidney specialities will be centralised in the 141-bed six-storey unit.
The first services transferred to the centre in July and more are due to follow next month.
Heart and kidney services from the South Infirmary and the Mercy University Hospital are due to transfer to CUH next year.
The centre will deliver more than 24,000 haemodialysis treatments in 2010 – 800 more than 09.
The cardiology unit includes two cardiac theatres, 10 intensive care beds, 12 high dependency beds and 34 ward beds.
There is also cath labs, a coronary care unit and day beds, a cardiac rehab unit, and non-invasive cardiology and outpatient facilities.
Prof Richard Greene, the clinical director at CUH, said: “This new centre is about ensuring patients in the region have access to the best treatment from specialist staff in the most appropriate environment.”
