Published: Wednesday, 25th January, 2012 5:05pm

Massive 17% cut in Portiuncula's funding

Politicians and unions vow to work together to secure future of hospital

Portiuncula's budget for 2012 has been slashed by a whopping 17%, the Westmeath Independent can reveal this week.

Due to a 4.5% cut in its budget imposed by government and the deficit it carried over from last year, the hospital will have to work to a budget of €34m this year, which is a drop of €7m, or 17.5% on last year's figure of €41m.

In fact the hospitals 'allowable spend' for 2012 is akin to its 2003 budget, despite the fact that there has been a significant increase in activity levels at the hospital in the past nine years.

Compared to 2003, this year Portiuncula has ten less staff members, inpatient numbers have increased by 5%, daycare has increased by 53%, outpatient numbers have increased by 53%, emergency has increased by 14% and births have increased by 56%.

On Monday unions at the hospital met with politicians in the area to discuss their growing concerns for the future of the hospital, particularly in relation to the emergency department and the government's plans to halve the use of agency staff across the country. Independent South Roscommon Deputy Denis Naughten and Oireachtas members from east Galway - Deputy Ciaran Cannon (FG), Deputy Colm Keaveney (Lab), Deputy Paul Connaughton (FG), Deputy Michael Kitt (FF), Senator Lorraine Higgins (Lab) and Senator Michael Mullins (FG) met with the unions at the hospital on Monday.

Speaking to the Westmeath Independent after the meeting, Deputy Naughten said: "We met with a group of unions at the hospital. They were reassured by the government representatives there that there was no threat to the A&E there."

On the fact that the budget this year was the same as the 2003 budget, Deputy Naughten said: "It will be difficult to remain in budget with the increased numbers coming through the doors and the emergency department closed in Roscommon. They (the unions) were relatively satisfied with how they got on and will monitor it on an ongoing basis. They got a commitment from the government representatives and they expect it to be fulfilled." IMPACT's Padraig Mulligan, who is also chairman of the Portiuncula Hospital Action Committee, said it was a constructive meeting and said they had a frank discussion about their fears for the future of the hospital.

He said the local politicians are to meet with the new CEO of the Galway/Roscommon hospital network Bill Maher to discuss the future of Portiuncula Hospital in Ballinasloe amid fears for the future of the emergency department at the hospital and concerns that the use of agency staff could be curtailed.

"We agreed to work together to firstly save the A&E and also to realise the potential of the hospital within the new network," Mr Mulligan told the Westmeath Independent.

He said there was to be a significant improvement of the casemix, with the number of procedures being carried out at Portiuncula set to increase.

However, Mr Mulligan added: "The fears we expressed were that we're moving to one budget and one employment ceiling at the discretion of the CEO who is based in Galway and that as a result of that there was a significant fear that a number of nurses, doctors and administration staff could be moved from Portiuncula to Galway."

He said they were also concerned about the announcement from Health Minister James Reilly that the use of agency staff was to be reduced nationwide by 50%, pointing out that Portiuncula depends on agency workers to keep the emergency department open.

Mr Mulligan told the Westmeath Independent that as a result of the meeting the politicians have agreed to meet the new CEO of the hospital network Bill Maher to discuss the points raised.

"They've taken on board the points we made and they're moving to clarify everything raised - the A&E issue, agency staff and also to confirm that we'll be in budget this year. What we're facing is not a sprint, it's a marathon. With Roscommon, they ran a good marathon for a while and the A&E was taken away but we intend to be vigilant during the term of this government and if we see anything that seems to be a threat we'll move," he said.

He said the politicians intended to invite them back to another meeting to allay their fears once they had met with the new CEO.

"We want to know what all the plans are. We've heard positive things and we want them confirmed," said Mr Mulligan. "We have a fear of the unknown but we want to take away that fear."

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