New health plan to go ahead – but where will we find €30bn?
‘Falls down in a lot of areas’
THE Government is apparently planning to press ahead with the implementation of the €30billion Sláintecare programme – despite Leo Varadkar expressing significant concerns about the plan recently.
The Irish Daily Mail has calculated that the ten-year health reform plan would require an extra €2.8billion in taxpayers’ money each and every year – on top of current health spending.
Although it has been widely reported the plan would give everyone in the country free medical care for a cost of just €2.8billion over a decade, an investigation by this paper revealed the actual cost would be an extra €2.8billion every year for ten years.
Raising an extra €2.8billon a year would mean an additional €1,750 would have to be taken from every taxpayer in the country every single year for ten years.
Almost a year after the Mail first questioned the cost of the plan, the Irish Hospital Consultants Association, in a submission to the Sláintecare Independent Review Group, argued that the actual running costs would eventually come to €20billion for the first decade, increasing to €28billion plus inflation in subsequent decades.
Recently Mr Varadkar, a former health minister, said the report advocating Sláintecare – drawn up by a Dáil committee – ‘falls down in a lot of areas’.
There are doubts in Government about its affordability, with the Department of Finance concerned about future funding costs. Mr Varadkar told the Dáil in June: ‘The sections on recruitment and retention, using public money efficiently and making sure the money actually gets to the patient – there is not an awful lot in it.’
He said the delay since the report was delivered a year ago was because ‘so much work’ was needed to bring the plan to standard and to draw up a schedule for undertaking. Mr Varadkar has spoken this week of bringing a ‘laser-like focus’ to health expenditure, which has gone €168million over budget in the first six months of this year.
Nevertheless yesterday Mr Varadkar announced he had appointed a figurehead to implement the health plan. There will be a specialist office to drive the programme in coming years, led by a chief executive supported by staff drawn mostly from outside the existing health system.
Laura Magahy, a manager who was at one time associated with the ill-fated ‘Bertie Bowl’ project as well as developing the Digital Hub in Dublin’s Liberties and helping regenerate Temple Bar, was given the job with a six-figure salary. Her firm has also received millions of euro in consultancy fees from the HSE for work carried out. The Private Hospitals Association yesterday welcomed the appointment of Ms Magahy, saying it looked forward to discussion with her on how the State’s healthcare assets can deliver the healthcare needs of all citizens. The Private Hospitals Association said yesterday: ‘We anticipate a significant increase in demand for private healthcare arising from the implementation of the Sláintecare recommendations. What’s needed now is a clear and definitive action plan that details the next steps. It will allow private hospitals to plan an investment strategy that will deliver appropriate infrastructure.’
Ms Magahy will be clinically advised by Professor Tom Keane, who pioneered reform of Irish cancer care, setting up eight centres of excellence.