Consultants call for more realistic budgets for patient care

Senior doctors have called for more realistic budgets to treat growing numbers of patients in acute public hospitals at a time when the sector is running a deficit of €28m.

As part of its pre-budget submission, the Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) says that pre-set targets by the HSE have consistently underestimated patient demand for hospital care, creating the kind of situation where an overrun of €28m was already in evidence by the end of the first quarter of 2013.

The pressure on hospitals is exacerbated by an ageing population and the numbers dropping out of private health insurance.