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Letterkenny General Hospital

Letterkenny General Hospital has responded this afternoon to growing cocerns over both potential job losses and cutbacks at the hospital.

They have admitted that they are projecting a budget overspend by year end and measures are being considered that will bridge the gap.

In a statement they said: “The Hospital is obliged to live within its allocated budget and at this stage it is likely that not all the savings can be made from non-pay areas. Therefore costs associated with staff pay also need to be considered.  
“Despite the financial challenge faced this year, Letterkenny General Hospital will deliver the level of care and service targets for which it is funded, as set out in the 2010 Service Plan. This includes 19,168 inpatients, 15,854 day cases and 84,485 outpatient visits which will be delivered in 2010.
 
We are entering into one of the most financially challenging times that we have ever seen within Irish health services. If we do not take immediate action to reduce costs, there may be a requirement for severe actions to be taken later in the year that will have an even greater affect on services into the future.
 
Staff have been briefed in relation to the overall budgetary situation and to what is being proposed to address the deficit, but nothing is agreed as yet. Hospital Management plans to meet union representatives on Thursday morning.
 
While a reduction in some services within the Hospital is inevitable, we are endeavouring to keep them to a minimum and to ensure that the impact on service users will be kept to a minimum.
 
John Hennessy, Regional Director of Operations for HSE West said, “If we continue to do the same things in the same way we will get the same result. We have to do the right things for the future and we have to eliminate inefficiency and maximise the use of our resources to protect the future of our services. There are challenges in all health services across the country at the moment given the current economic climate but we have to be in a position here in the West, now and for the future, to meet those challenges and ensure we have the best possible services for the people living in our area.”