Unions and management at the Mid Western Regional Hospital in Limerick will meet today to discuss a proposal to close 25 beds as a cost-saving measure.
The hospital’s deficit the highest of any HSE hospital and exceeded its budget for the first five months of the year by €14.4 million, or 26 per cent.
Management announced last week that 25 beds would close from next Monday. In addition, it plans to cut overtime by half and will cut spending on agency staff.
Noel Treanor, industrial relations officer with the Irish Nurses’ and Midwives’ Organisation, said the union had sought the meeting to establish what the full implications of the proposals were for members and for the general public.
“We believe that it’s going to be devastating if it goes ahead,” he said. “I can’t see how the services can be sustained at a level that is appropriate if these measures go ahead.”
Mr Treanor said there were issues around how the hospital’s deficit had occurred and that these needed to be established.
He also said the hospital covered a large catchment area and that, on a pro rata basis, its emergency department was “probably one of the most demanding in the country”.
The meeting will take place at 4pm today.
Hospital deficits in the State are now running at more than €120 million.
Other hospitals that have exceeded their allocation are University College Hospital Galway, with a deficit of €8.7 million; Tallaght hospital, which has exceeded its budget by €7.6 million; and St Vincent’s University Hospital at €6.3 million.