Call to exempt North health service from efficiency savings
The health service in the North should be exempt from 3% efficiency savings which threaten to cut services to the bone, workers claimed today.
Union Unison said medical care was crucial at a time when the world was “united” in backing public spending to defeat the economic crisis.
Regional Secretary Patricia McKeown gave evidence to the Assembly’s Health Committee today.
“Waste is never acceptable but we are cutting to the bone and beyond and our healthcare services are now in a critical condition,” she said.
All departments in the Executive are required to meet 3% efficiency savings.
However, Unison claimed this meant bed closures were being brought forward without proper analysis of the effects on waiting times or the cancellation of operations.
The Southern Trust and Belfast already has plans to axe beds, Unison claimed, and if those were replicated across the province it claimed up to 100 could go.
Ms McKeown said the union had met the First and Deputy First Ministers Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness to deliver proposals dealing with the financial crisis.
“These include the need to pay particular attention to the most vulnerable in society and the crucial role of healthcare and healthcare investment at a time of downturn when the world community is united in prioritising public spending to respond to the crisis,” she said.
“It would logically follow that our health service in Northern Ireland should be exempt from the 3% efficiency savings which are now coming forward not as efficiencies but as real cuts in service provision.
“As currently being processed they are a symptom of deep underlying crises.”
She said cuts emerging in residential care would affect health inequality.
The Health Care Reform Bill separates responsibility for commissioning services from providing them.
Ms McKeown said: “These are real areas for examination of costs and effectiveness which are currently unaddressed in the savings drive.”
She said consigning young people in Muckamore Abbey until 2016 was “unacceptable and unethical”.
“There are a number of ’top down’ initiatives to raise productivity to save money,” she added.
“The fundamental concept of working smarter to release more time for care is being lost.”
A Department of Health spokesman said the savings demanded came to £344m (€410.5m) but would be achieved through efficiencies not cuts and all targets would still have to be achieved.
“It is true to say that over the next three years there will be changes to services. There is no doubt that delivering the efficiency savings for health and social care will be difficult to achieve,” he said.
“It is a monumental amount of money to squeeze from a system that is already operating within limited resources.
“However, one significant contribution to these targets will come from the introduction of new structures through the Review of Public Administration, which will deliver £53m (€63.2m) savings annually.”
Resources saved will be reinvested.
The spokesperson added: “The 3% efficiency savings have to be made. There is no alternative.”
Each of the health trusts have outlined their proposals, no final decisions have been made.
A Department of Finance and Personnel spokeswoman said: “The efficiency savings were part of the budget that was agreed by all ministers in the Executive including the Health Minister.”
