Crisis-hit SouthDoc faces cut of up to 10%

A GP co-op that recently claimed to be “on its knees” is facing another budget cut of up to 10% in 2013.

South West Doctors on Call Ltd (aka SouthDoc), which is 100% funded by the HSE, has endured successive budget cuts since 2007, amounting to a 34.6% reduction by the end of 2012.

The co-op, which provides out-of-hours service across Cork and Kerry, faces another funding cut of up to 10% this year, according to SouthDoc general manager Máire Hussey.

The figure emerged during a preliminary hearing at an Employment Appeals Tribunal to determine if three SouthDoc employees — Ms Hussey; SouthDoc auditor Marcus Treacy; and the HSE’s Dónal Murphy — could give evidence in camera.

Solicitor Deirdre Crowley asked that her clients’ evidence be heard in camera on the basis that media reports following a previous sitting of the tribunal had a negative impact on the company.

Ms Crowley said SouthDoc had experienced “operational difficulties, emp-loyee confidence difficulties, and patient confidence difficulties” after newspapers reported details of its financial status last October after a sitting of the appeals case.

The company itself had revealed the details at the hearing, claiming SouthDoc was “on its knees and tipping towards the edge of a cliff in a wind-up situation”.

At the resumed hearing in Cork yesterday, Ms Hussey said difficulties ranged from high level to mundane.

At a high level, SouthDoc had received a call from its bank, said Ms Hussey. This was at a time when SouthDoc had already had its overdraft facility reduced by 75%.

It also had difficulties with an IT leasing company with which it had been in talks about leasing equipment. Following, the newspaper reports, the IT firm said it was “not in a position to progress the discussions any further”, said Ms Hussey.

On a more mundane level, one of SouthDoc’s drivers had been refused diesel at a filling station in a small town where the HSE had an account with the garage. Ms Hussey said the driver had to buy diesel out of his own pocket.

Ms Hussey claimed Kerry radio had been inundated with calls from patients “worried about the viability” of SouthDoc and what would happen to them if SouthDoc was taken away.

At employee level, Ms Hussey claimed she had been contacted by some staff worried about their future.

Ms Crowley said Ms Hussey, Mr Treacy, and Mr Murphy did not feel they could “speak freely on the record” that some of their evidence was “commercially sensitive”, including the 10% pay cut, “the precise nature” of which has not yet been communicated to SouthDoc.

The tribunal unanimously agreed the three witnesses could be heard in camera.

The hearing continues.