Huge disparity in rates paid by HSE to chaplains in west

THE HSE could make huge savings if it streamlined payments made to priests providing chaplaincy services across its acute hospital network in the west, according to a forum member of HSE West.

Cllr Brian Meaney was speaking yesterday after HSE figures revealed a huge disparity in what it pays its chaplains across its major hospitals in the west. According to the HSE figures provided in response to a Freedom of Information request, the executive paid over €1 million last year and a further €1 million in 2010 to priests and others providing chaplaincy and pastoral services in its acute hospital and community care network, stretching from Donegal to Limerick.

But the payments are subject to local agreements and the figures show that the 103-bed HSE-funded St John’s Hospital in Limerick last year paid €179,489 for pastoral care and chaplaincy services. The spend at St John’s Hospital compares to the HSE spending €195,617 at the larger 435-bed Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Limerick for chaplaincy services last year.

Separate figures for the 997-bed Galway University Hospitals, made up of the University Hospital Galway and Merlin Park University Hospital, show that its spend on chaplaincy services for the first 10 months of last year was €203,387. It spent €277,521 in 2010.

The annual spend per bed at St John’s on chaplaincy and pastoral services was €1,746 in 2011 compared with €449 per bed at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital and €278 per bed at Galway University Hospitals.

The HSE states that €70,049 was spent on chaplaincy services at the 339-bed Mayo General Hospital in 2010 with €148,017 spent at the 196-bed Portiuncula Hospital in Ballinasloe in 2010.

The figures for the 80-bed Ennis General Hospital show that the HSE spent €9,986 last year for an on-call chaplaincy service for all denominations – an annual cost of €124 a bed.

St John’s Hospital employs two pastoral care staff, one Catholic chaplain and a part-time Church of Ireland chaplain.

According to the HSE, “This service is particular to St John’s Hospital.”

The HSE confirms that three people are employed in the chaplaincy service at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital where pastoral care is given to multiple denominations.

“There is no comparison between the size of Galway University Hospitals and St John’s Hospital yet there is little difference in how much the hospitals pay for their chaplaincy services,” said Cllr Meaney.

“If the HSE is having trouble making its savings in 2012, it need look no further than what it pays for its chaplaincy services. I believe that the cost-effective Ennis model should be rolled out across the HSE West area.”