Dublin's Beaumont hospital is considering limiting cancer treatment and kidney dialysis services as well as restricting staffing levels in order to cut 10 per cent off its operating costs this year, according to an internal memo.
The confidential document sent to senior management last week warns that the hospital will have a €21 million shortfall by the end of 2003 if it does not make cuts. The hospital believes it must cut services to patients, and its chief executive, Mr John Lamont, has circulated a list of possible cuts such as capping activity in such areas as oncology and dialysis.
The memo, details of which were revealed by the Labour Party leader, Mr Pat Rabbitte, in the Dáil yesterday, suggests a wide range of measures, many of which would impact on health services available to patients. They include closing 35 beds, restricting the recruitment of new and replacement staff, reducing overtime, returning nursing home patients to the acute hospital and postponing some capital development projects.
Other proposals include the reduction of professional fees, closing the night-time dialysis shift and reducing the on-call pathology and radiology services. A consultant kidney specialist at the hospital, Mr Peter Conlon, said yesterday that if the night time dialysis shift ended "60 to 70 patients would have no means of getting dialysis and would probably die". For this reason, he said he did not believe such a cut would be implemented.
However these proposals are to be discussed at a meeting shortly with the Eastern Regional Health Authority at which the hospital will discuss its activity for 2003. "The likelihood is that many of the initiatives will have to be carried out," warns a separate memo from the hospital's clinical services co-ordinator, Ms Ginny Hanrahan.
"The hospital will have a €21 million shortfall if we continue the way we are working, at the end of the year", this memo says. "This is not sustainable. It would appear that the ERHA envisage that that the allocation of €175.9 million for 2003 is all that we will receive this year.
"We started this year with a deficit of €5.9 million and unless we can increase our income - last year €22 million - cut back on our costs in both pay and non-pay, the hospital is facing serious difficulties. We are looking at a requirement to cut 10 per cent across the board."
Questioned about this by Mr Rabbitte yesterday, the Taoiseach said that all hospitals were obliged to have ensured by last month that their plans for this year were within their cost allocations for 2003. Saying there had been "huge increases" in health spending on previous years, Mr Ahern said hospital managements should "address their difficulties in the normal way, through the Eastern region Health Authority and the Department, with whom they are in discussion".
He appeared to suggest that the Beaumont Hospital management had deliberately publicised its financial difficulties. "It will not help the position of those managers who seek to get advertisements for their dilemmas."