Ward set to close for weekends to cut costs

Management at University Hospital Galway (UHG) have reduced the number of beds in the gynaecological department and closed a ward at weekends in a bid to cut costs between now and the end of the year.The biggest hospital in the West of Ireland has been forced to cut back on care, and to suspend elective treatment, after spending its entire budget for 2009.In a statement issued yesterday, management at the Health Service Executive (West) confirmed that some elective procedures would have to be deferred as a result of the closure of four in-patient and 11 day-care beds in the gynaecological department.“This is necessary because across a number of services we are continuing to see more patients than we are funded to treat,” said the statement. “This is unsustainable in the current economic climate and no additional funding will be available in the current year.“We apologise to our patients for any inconvenience this may cause them or their families and we remain committed to providing the highest standard of patient care within the resources available.”Some elective procedures have been put back to 2010, as hospital management have undertaken to give priority to emergency cases.Meanwhile, nurses working at UHG have reported that the St Michael’s Ward is currently operating for five days out of seven, with patients being sent home or moved to other areas of the hospital at weekends.Regina Durkin of the Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) said that 15 beds in the gynaecological department had been closed since November 11 last, while the St Michael’s Ward was currently only open for five days out of seven.“It would be normal for management to reduce the number of beds in the gynaecological department at Race Week and Christmas, but they’ve been closed down earlier this time around,” said Ms Durkin.“It’s a concern for me that it’s always women’s beds they close down, but management have said it is because they have shorter waiting lists in this area.It is annoying if you are on a waiting list for surgery, but management insist they are giving priority to emergency cases. It all comes down to the budgeting of the HSE and the public service.”Fine Gael’s spokesman for health, Dr James Reilly, said the problem stemmed from a ‘ludicrous’ decision to fund hospitals such as UHG on an annual basis instead of allocating funds according to the number of patients treated at each institution.