Mayo facing double health services whammy over 'financial controls'
AN appeal has been made to Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill to guarantee that new HSE financial controls will not lead to cuts in frontline or community health services in Mayo.
Councillor Harry Barrett said the county is facing 'two very serious warnings' in the space of weeks, namely a freeze on 2027 funding increases for Section 39 community and voluntary organisations and confirmation that HSE West is one of four regions to lose control over day-to-day spending.
"These are not two separate stories. They are warning signs of the same problem," Councillor Barrett articulated.
Minister Carroll MacNeill has stated that the scale of the projected HSE overspend ‘cannot be explained by demand pressures alone’.
She made her comments after an internal report showed a system-wide deficit of €577 million to the end of July. HSE West and North West recorded the lowest overspend of the six regions, at 3.3 per cent, against a high of 6.7 per cent in Dublin and Midlands.
Councillor Barrett questioned the reasons behind penalising the west region when their overspend was less than half of their eastern counterparts.
"Where exactly do they expect the savings to come from? Will it be vacant posts that are not filled? Will it be home support hours? Will it be community and voluntary organisations? Will it be services for older people? Will it mean further pressure on Mayo University Hospital?" he asked.
The Castlebar-based Independent representative noted that HSE West and North West already have the largest home-care waiting list of any HSE region, with 1,265 Mayo patients listed at the end of June, while the county's population continues to grow and age.
Councillor Barrett wants the minister to clarify three points.
1. Whether she will publish figures for HSE West and North West separately and explain why the lowest overspend region is losing control?
2. Whether she will guarantee the new controls will not delay frontline services at Mayo University Hospital or affect GP supports, home support, older-person services, mental health or community healthcare?
3. Whether demographic need - including population growth, ageing and the needs of rural counties - will be built into the 2027 allocation?
In respect of fears regarding the new Ballina minor injuries unit, Minister Dara Calleary said his understanding was that staff at the unit were in place and had been onboarded, and that the building project was progressing. “We continue to monitor that,” he said.
He stated the unit, along with wider redevelopment work, was “essential to the whole ecosystem of health in the county,” but warned that progress depended on budgetary control being restored.
“We won’t be able to do that if there isn’t budgetary control,” he said, pointing to the Department of Education as an example of what happens when spending is not kept in check.
“There has to be control, and there has to be accountability around the expenditure,” he added.
The Connaught Telegraph asked the HSE West press office directly whether the new financial controls will affect staffing and vacancies at Mayo University Hospital and whether they will impact the planned opening of the new minor injuries unit in Ballina.
A response is awaited.