Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
INJECTION OF £40M FOR OUR HEALTH SERVICE
Money will help reduce savings
AN additional £40million was pumped into the ailing health service yesterday.
The money will “help towards reducing the amount of savings” the sector needs to make, said a spokesman.
Northern Ireland’s five health trusts had been asked to find £70million worth of savings to enable the Department of Health to balance its books.
Of the proposed plan, £3million impacted on frontline services.
The extra funding yesterday was described as a “short-term respite” to the pressures pushing down on the health service in Northern Ireland.
A spokesman said: “The Department of Finance has today written to the Department of Health authorising it to plan on the basis of an additional £40million being available in this financial year.
“This is hugely welcomed – the Health and Social Care system has faced significant budgetary pressures this year, which resulted in trusts having to consult on savings plans of £70million, in order to meet the statutory obligation for the health and social care system to breakeven.
“The additional £40million will help towards reducing the amount of savings needed.
“The financial issues faced this year will only grow in intensity as we move forward.
“The initial assessment of the financial position for 2018-19 and 2019-20 is pressures of over some £430million and £670million respectively will need to be addressed to maintain existing services.”
Unite’s Kevin Mcadam said the initial cuts “were necessitated by a spurious budget reduction”.
He added: “Their impact and consequences were completely untenable from a medical perspective and would have had a devastating impact on the most vulnerable.”