Poor performing hospitals will lose €18m from budgets

MORE than €18m will be slashed off the budgets of 17 poor performing hospitals this year.

The biggest loser is Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, Co Louth — it faces a budget cut of €3.46m.

Still languishing near the bottom of the Health Service Executive’s efficiency ladder is Tallaght Hospital. Coming second last, it faces a reduction of €2.77m this year. In 2010 Our Lady of Lourdes was in second place with Tallaght the biggest loser for the third year in a row.

This year budget cuts of over €1m have been made to Our Lady’s County, Navan, Co Meath; Sligo General; St Columcille’s Hospital, Loughlinstown, Dublin; Mid-Western Regional Hospital, Limerick and Midland Regional Hospital, Tullamore.

The biggest reward, €2.15m, was made to St James’s Hospital in Dublin, with the Midland Regional Hospital in Mullingar receiving the second highest at €2.13m.

Kerry General Hospital in Tralee got the third highest award — €1.8m.

Waterford Regional Hospital and two Cork hospitals — Mercy University Hospital and South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital — made it into the top 10 efficient hospitals, with each receiving over €1m.

The Casemix Budget figures for last year are part of the HSE’s penalty and reward system to encourage hospitals to be more efficient.

No funding is taken out of the system which rewards efficiency by redirecting funds to hospitals who have shown that additional funding will result in real benefits.

There are 38 hospitals involved in the programme that has been in operation since 1993.

The budget adjustments reflect each hospital’s performance against their peers with account taken of their mix of cases and differing complexities.

There is no penalty for hospitals that have long stay patients.