Our Lady's Children's Hospital, Crumlin provides acute secondary and tertiary hospital services for children. The hospital receives a significant proportion of its funding from the Exchequer via the Health Service Executive. In 2008, the hospital has an allocation of €137m, up from €128m in 2007. The hospital's budget has increased by over €38m since 2004, a 39% increase.
Each hospital funded by the HSE is required to deliver services within the financial allocation provided. The HSE is fully aware of the financial challenges being faced by the hospital. It is involved in ongoing discussions with hospital management regarding its 2008 financial allocation and Service Plan. The Hospital has an overrun of €10m from last year, and a projected overrun of €14m for this year.
As part of the discussions on the budgetary position, the HSE has made an agreement with the Hospital, on a once off basis, to deal with last year's overrun of €10 million and to provide a further €7 million this year. However, the additional funding arrangement is contingent on the hospital working within its budget which will be amended from €137 million to €144 million for this year. The hospital must achieve savings of €7 million from the projected overrun of €14 million for 2008.
The priority of the HSE and hospital management is to ensure that services for children at the hospital are maintained at an optimum level.
There has been an increase in activity at the hospital in 2008. The hospital is ahead of its Service Plan targets. The number of day cases is up by 12.3%, outpatient activity is up by 7.7% and the number of inpatients treated has increased by 1.6%.
The number of staff employed at the Hospital has increased by 433 whole time equivalents (WTE) since 2004. At the end of March the number of WTEs employed at the hospital was 282, or 20%, above the approved employment ceiling.
The initial focus of the discussions between hospital management and the HSE is on ensuring that all areas of non-pay expenditure are critically examined.
Pay costs represent over 70% of the hospital's expenditure. The hospital has indicated that there will be a need to reduce the number of temporary and agency staff numbers but it is not in a position at this point to confirm the number of posts involved.
Significant investment has been put into developing services at the Hospital in the last number of years in areas such as Cardiac, Haematology/Oncology and MRI Services. Discussions are also at an advanced stage to create additional Intensive Care facilities at the Hospital.
My Department has asked the Parliamentary Affairs Division of the Executive to revert to the Deputy on the operational issues raised.
