The IHCA has criticised the lack of commitment in the HSE National Service Plan 2024 to open a specified number of additional general acute hospital beds this year.
The Association has pointed out that the Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly previously announced plans to open 147 additional acute beds in 2024; however, this is not reflected in the HSE National Service Plan published earlier this week.
The figure is also significantly below what is required to start addressing the severe overcrowding in our public hospitals and tackle the persistently high waiting times for treatment, according to a IHCA statement.
The Economic and Social Research Institute has estimated public acute hospitals need 1,000 additional inpatient beds immediately and an extra 330 beds a year just to keep up with demand from increasing population pressures.
While the IHCA said any increase in health funding is welcome, “the fact that an almost €1 billion supplementary budget was required for 2023 outside of the original budget allocation illustrates that the health service continues to be inadequately funded.”
According to its statement, a similar deficit is now likely in 2024, resulting in a substantial supplementary budget again being required next December to bridge that funding gap.
A spokesperson for the IHCA said: “It is deeply disappointing that the Service Plan for 2024 has failed to commit to opening a specified number of additional general public hospital beds this year.
“Even if all of the 147 additional beds promised by the Minister for 2024 are opened on time, this would mean a net increase of just 45 hospital beds over and above where we should have been at more than a year ago.
“This level of bed expansion, if delivered, is far less than provided for in the National Development Plan, which averages 260 beds per annum, a level the Minister for Health is on record as stating ‘lowballed’ the hospital capacity needs in the first place.
“It is also regrettable that the HSE and Government continues to renege on its pledge to commit the €1 billion in funding required to open 1,500 additional rapid build hospital beds across 15 acute public hospital sites this year.
“At the same time, the delivery of the promised six surgical hubs and long awaited four elective hospitals must be accelerated in order to provide the capacity that is required to meet all of the Government’s waiting list reduction targets.
“It is also particularly concerning that the National Service Plan only delivers a modest increase in the mental health budget to €1.308 billion in 2024. This is an increase of just €34 million (2.7%) on the revised 2023 Budget of €1.274 billion.
“Despite a slight overall increase in spending, just €3.1 million is allocated for new measures in mental health. This is the second year in a row when the level of funding for new measures has actually decreased compared with the previous year: from €24 million in 2022 to €14 million in 2023 and to just €3.1 million in 2024 – a reduction of almost €21 million or 87 per cent in two years.”
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