IMO: Hospital services will deteriorate despite ‘apparent’ rise in health spend

Trolley numbers, waiting lists and quality levels will deteriorate across the health service next year despite an “apparent” rise in health spending, the Irish Medical Organisation claims.

Responding to the funding details outlined in the HSE’s National Service Plan (NSP), published yesterday, the IMO president, Dr Ann Hogan, called for a public debate “about the gap between what was being proposed to be spent and what was demanded to provide a reasonable level of health services for a modern country”.

The NSP, based on a budget of €14.6bn, an increase of €608m (4.4%) on 2017, contains warnings that the HSE faces significant financial challenges in 2018, as a result of which it needs to make savings of €346m under a new Value Improvement Programme.