Another hospital announced plans to close beds yesterday due to budget difficulties. Tralee General Hospital, one of the largest acute hospitals in the Southern Health Board region, said that it would close 30 beds for the summer months.
The Southern Health Board said that there would also be a reduction in the number of out-patient clinics held during the Rose of Tralee Festival and during other holiday periods throughout the year. Elective surgery will also be reduced during the summer. The health board described the measures as "corrective action" to help it stay within budget.
The number of beds to be lost represents around 10 per cent of the hospital's total general bed capacity. Emergency services will not be affected and the level of services provided to patients in 2002 will continue in 2003, according to Ms Margie Lynch, the hospital's general manager.
The "seasonal closure" of beds for the months of June, July and August and other cutbacks are because the hospital had exceeded its budget by €300,000 at the end of February. This was because of increased demand on its services, above the level of funding provided. The hospital has an annual budget of €52 million.
Ms Breeda Moynihan Cronin, Labour TD for Kerry South, described the cuts as outrageous. "The Government is trying to run our hospitals into the ground by starving hospitals of resources. This is a sham and a scandal and will not be tolerated by the people of Kerry," she said.
Dublin's Mater Hospital recently announced that it would have to close 115 beds.
Meanwhile, the Minister for Health, Mr Martin, was urged yesterday to redirect elderly patients blocking beds in acute hospitals to the 2,000 vacant beds in private nursing homes across the State. The plea came from the Irish Nursing Homes Organisation at its annual general meeting in Waterford. Delegates called on Mr Martin to end what they called the "short-sighted and false economy" of leaving elderly patients who were fit to be discharged in acute hospital beds.