It is “too soon to say” whether the health service will need additional funding or further measures to curb budget overruns this year, the head of the organisation has said.
Recruitment of non-frontline roles across significant parts of the State has been paused to deal with the €250 million overspend in the first quarter of this year.
Health Service Executive chief Anne O’Connor told her senior management team in a memo on Tuesday that the organisation was now “significantly over budget”, and the situation had “significantly worsened” over recent weeks.
Under the measures, three HSE regions – Dublin and South East, Dublin Midlands and the South West – have been placed in what is known as tier three escalation, which will involve the introduction of employment controls and greater scrutiny on spending.
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Speaking to reporters at the final day of the Irish Nurses and Midwives’ Organisation (INMO) on Friday, O’Connor said overruns are not uncommon in the first quarter of the year due to increased activity as a result of winter pressures.
“It is early and I have deliberately done this early in the year to get ahead of it. We are very keen to get to multi-annual budgeting because that’s something that we’ve wanted for many years,” she said.
“I think the reality is we have a significant budget; we have to use it well. In terms of where we end up? It’s too early in the year to say.”
O’Connor said ”different regions are in different places”.
“But I am hoping that we bring it back to a manageable level. We have to look and see how we are managing as we go through the year and we’ll make decisions accordingly,” she said.
“But I really, really don’t want to disrupt any patient services. That’s not what this is about at all.”
The recently-appointed chief executive said that last year more patients received operations than ever before in the history of the State, but waiting lists still rose.
This, alongside emergency department pressures, illustrates why reform of the health service is so important, she said.
“In terms of just the first quarter alone, we saw 7.5 per cent more than the first quarter last year. And within that, a 12.5 per cent increase of people who are over 75,” she said.
“These numbers … are going to continue to grow and the answer has got to be driving reform to ensure we can look after people where they need to be looked after in their own homes, etc.”
