Written answers

Wednesday, 11 January 2012

8:00 pm

Photo of Billy KelleherBilly Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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Question 812: To ask the Minister for Health if he expects frontline services to be affected following cuts announced in Budget 2012; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1631/12]

Photo of James ReillyJames Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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It is clear that 2012 will be a very challenging year for the health services. The combination of the savings measures, the absence of extra funding for unavoidable extra costs and service needs plus the further reductions in numbers employed will inevitably impact on services across all care programmes. The extent and nature of the impact on specific services will be set out in the HSE's National Service Plan for 2012, which was approved by the Board of the HSE and submitted to me on 23rd December. I am currently considering the Plan with a view to making a decision on it by the end of this week.

My Department has worked collaboratively with the HSE to develop the Plan in the context of the Comprehensive Review of Expenditure, the Programme for Government reform agenda and commitments for Mental Health and Primary Care. The Plan as submitted indicates at a high level the impact the savings measures will have on the various care areas, however, it would not be appropriate for me to discuss the details of the Plan in advance of my final decision. I can indicate that there will be a greater emphasis on maximising the level of services through innovation and more efficient use of the resources available.

The HSE itself acknowledges that there is a need to accelerate the process of health care reform and through the use of initiatives, such as the National Clinical Care Programmes, to move to models of care across all programmes that deliver services to patients and clients at the lowest level of complexity and the least possible unit cost. We hope to minimise the impact on services but the reality is that we are in very challenging times and there is going to be a consequence for every programme. We will be working hard with the HSE, the unions and our staff to find ways of changing how we do our business to identify means of maximising the resources we have and minimising the affects on the level of service provision. The full and successful implementation of the reform programme will be essential in our drive to minimise the adverse impact that the reduction in funding will have on patients.

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