Billy Timmins
Question:113 Mr. Timmins asked the Minister for Health and Children if a fine has been imposed on a hospital (details supplied) in County Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6410/00]
Written Answers. - Hospital Fine.
Under the casemix budgeting system which is part of the resource allocation process for the acute hospital sector, a negative casemix adjustment of £216,559 was applied to the hospital referred to by the Deputy, based on the casemix performance of the hospital in question relative to other hospitals which participate in the casemix system.
The casemix system uses clinical information which is directly derived from clinical practice and provided by the participating hospitals to determine a proportion of the funding for hospitals. Casemix classifies patients into discrete classes or groups, which share common clinical attributes and similar patterns of resource use, thus facilitating the use of such information for comparative purposes. All funding allocated under casemix remains within the hospital system and any funding deducted from hospitals is distributed to the other hospitals on the basis of their positive performance under casemix. Full details of the clinical and financial information on which casemix budget adjustments are based is provided to all hospitals to allow the agencies concerned to address the issues raised by a negative casemix adjustment.