Services cuts in HSE reform to be reviewed

THE controversial withdrawal of services from smaller hospitals under the Health Service Executive’s (HSE) ambitious reform programme is to be halted pending review.

Health Minister James Reilly confirmed he has requested that a key element in the reconfiguration of healthcare delivery be put on hold until he has had a chance to analyse the implications.

“I can’t make it more clear, no withdrawal of services anywhere within the hospital sector until such time as we’ve had the opportunity to review it and the implications in each individual case,” Dr Reilly said.

“I decided long before the election that if we were lucky enough to get into government that we would do this because I don’t believe in some instances that it’s appropriate.”

However, the minister emphasised that this was “not the same thing as saying reconfiguration is halted”.

“Reconfiguration has many aspects to it which don’t involve withdrawal of services and the [Department of Health] secretary general [Michael Scanlan] is quite at pains to point that out to me,” Dr Reilly said.

Department officials are to meet with HSE chief executive Cathal Magee to discuss implementing the Health Minister’s request.

Dr Reilly said he could not put a timeframe on how long the review would take but that he wanted it done “before various reconfiguration plans are continued”.

His comments came in the wake of a controversy over whether St Mary’s Orthopaedic Hospital in Cork would retain its service, as promised by Fine Gael during the general election.

In an interview with the Irish Examiner, Dr Reilly also confirmed he is in favour of breaking up the VHI, possibly into three separate entities and that the department was tendering for advice “on how best to deal with the dominant role of the VHI”.

Dr Reilly is also planning to interview the chair of the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board, John Gallagher, pending a review of proposals to develop a new National Children’s Hospital on the Mater campus in Dublin.

Mr Gallagher last week presented the findings of his own review, supporting the Mater site, to Dr Reilly.

The minister said he “hadn’t digested” Mr Gallagher’s appraisal yet but that he had been given an “in- house” presentation and that Mr Scanlan had assured him €400 million is available for the project.

The minister said he also intends to scrap a 50c prescription charge for medical card holders, which has netted the Government approximately €10m since its introduction last October.