THE MINISTER for Health is to put in place a new “special measures regime” to address underperformance in hospitals around the State.
The new unit will be aimed at tackling hospitals which are either significantly over budget, failing to deliver on their agreed level of service or which have serious problems in their emergency departments such as large numbers of patients on trolleys.
James Reilly has warned a number of times that hospitals which overspent their budget would face “consequences”.
Already a new board and governance structure is to be introduced at Dublin’s Tallaght hospital as part of a deal which will see the State providing financial support for the rest of the year.
Separately, the Department of Health has announced that new outside management is to be put in place at the main hospitals in Limerick and Galway which have also reported serious financial problems this year.
How the new regime – which is expected to be staffed by health service personnel – will operate and the teeth it will have have not fully been spelled out in public.
Highly placed sources said that initially management in hospitals considered to be underperforming would be offered assistance to deal with the difficulties.
However sources said that if it was demonstrable that management was not in a position to do the job required, more serious action could be taken.
Hospitals with serious overspending problems are also likely to face greater oversight of their performance, probably on a monthly basis.
The new regime is expected to operate closely with the department’s special delivery unit, which was established earlier this year to tackle problems in relation to emergency departments and waiting lists in hospitals.
The Minister’s move to tackle underperformance and overspending in hospitals comes at a time when many hospitals are facing real financial pressure.
Hospitals nationwide are more than €145 million in the red between them, according to the most recent figures published by the Health Service Executive.
The report, which was published a week ago, says that the hospitals with the most serious financial difficulties are University Hospital Limerick, Galway University Hospital, Tallaght Hospital, Dublin, and Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda.
The Galway hospital was €12 million over budget at the end of September, Limerick’s main hospital had overspent by €15.2 million at that stage, Tallaght Hospital was €11.2 million over while the Drogheda hospital was over budget by more than €9 million - the equivalent of 11 per cent of its annual budgetary allocation.
“Each of these hospitals are facing increasing cash pressures and will continue to do so until year end,” the HSE report said.
“The HSE in now working with Tallaght on a weekly basis to ensure stabilisation of their financial position and continuity of services until year end.”
Dr Reilly announced last week that the department would provide additional financial support to Tallaght but that this additional money would have to be repaid next year under a deal agreed between the parties.
In Dublin, St Vincent’s University Hospital has a deficit of more than €8 million while at the Mater hospital the budget overrun is close to €8 million.
Meanwhile, Letterkenny General Hospital is facing an overrun of nearly €8 million, according to the HSE financial figures which relate to the year to the end of September.