Children's hospitals must co-operate to save money, warns Taoiseach

Taoiseach Brian Cowen has today told children’s hospitals in Dublin that they must work together to save money to protect existing services.

Cowen made the call after Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital in Crumlin announced it was closing two wards due to a €9.6m funding shortfall.

There will also be a 15% reduction in day cases and a 15% reduction in outpatient activity, according to the hospital’s management.

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny blamed the Government’s health service cuts and branded them as "lunacy".

He told the Dáil: “Children who will be denied operations at Crumlin will either have to go on very long waiting lists or be sent to England to be treated under the National Treatment Purchase Fund.

“This is a policy of lunacy, Taoiseach.”

Mr Cowen said the hospital was allocated almost €140m for 2009, which was a €38m increase since 2004.

He called for more co-operation between children’s hospitals in Crumlin, Tallaght and Temple Street.

“The need to co-ordinate services across all three hospitals in the interests of providing services for children in the tightened budgetary situation we are in, is the way forward,” he told the Dáil.

He said Health Service Executive chief Prof Brendan Drumm had held talks on the issue with management at the Crumlin Hospital.

Mr Cowen added: “There is no such thing as unlimited resources for provision of healthcare in this country or any other country.

“We have to look at hospitals in the context of a network of hospitals providing care and maintaining service levels in this city and nationally.

“There are savings that can be made without affecting service levels in hospitals.”

Mr Cowen said up to €20m could be saved if there was a greater level of co-operation between hospitals.

“That is the obvious common-sense way to go forward and I hope these hospitals can agree to this,” he added.

St Joseph’s Ward in Crumlin is to close next week and another ward may also close later in the summer.

Sinn Féin said members of Government should hang their heads in shame over the issue.

“This Fianna Fáil/Green Government is betraying children and targeting them for savage cuts,” Dail leader Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin said in a statement.

“This is a national centre of excellence for the care of children yet the Government has for years failed to provide it with the support it needs and has now failed to shield it from the effects of the savage health cuts.”