Flu Funding Halts Bed Cut-Backs

A proposal to close 150 beds in the Belfast Trust area has now been rejected thanks to the recent agreement on extra funding to tackle swine flu.

NI Health Minister Michael McGimpsey announced this week that the extra money received for battling swine flu would help relieve some of the financial pressures facing health trusts.

For this reason, he rejected several cut-back proposals - such as reducing beds in the Royal Victoria and Belfast City hospitals - which the Belfast Trust last month said was needed to cut costs, even though it would have had a huge impact on frontline services.

As news also emerged that a new mum - who gave birth in the Erne Hospital in Fermanagh - is in a coma after contracting swine flu, the Minister pointed to the difficult situation facing the Department and the Health and Social Care.

"We have the challenge of finding £700million in efficiency savings, coupled with addressing the years of under-investment which means our services are simply not as good as those in the rest of the UK."

He said: "I have carefully considered all of the trusts contingency plans which were needed to address the funding shortfalls I faced.

"This included help in meeting the £64million estimated costs of swine flu, to which I contributed £32million," he continued.

Moreover, other Stormont Executive departments agreed to surrender around £40m towards the cost of swine flu and possibly more cash will come from unspent budgets.

Finances have also been stimulated by the evaluation of the employers' contribution to staff pensions next year.

The Minister's decision also included the release of around £20m to help trusts to resume private treatment in order to maintain reduced waiting times.

Despite recognising that all trusts face major challenges in delivering safe and effective services - within a very limited resource - the Minister said he will advise them of a "wide range of stringent cost control measures".

According to Sinn Féin’s Deputy Chair of the Assembly Health Committee, Michelle O'Neill, this was great news when "people are becoming increasingly concerned with the threat posed by swine flu heading into the winter month and the loss of these beds would be an added problem".

However, she emphasized there are very real difficulties remaining within the department and added they must all work to ensure the patients and health care workers protection.

(CL/BMcC)