Good to see that the Irish Medical Organisation agrees with the opinion of this website that the Health Service Executive (HSE) is “an administrative monster that is unaccountable to the taxpayer.” (Six One News, 10th item).
The use of facts and statistics to make a point usually causes the eyes to glaze over but these figures, I think, will astonish and shock.
This Week (4th item) – 23rd March.
Since the HSE took over from the old health boards administration and management costs have risen from €492 million in 2005 to €587 million in 2007.
The number of administration and management staff in the HSE at the end of September 2007 was 18,421 compared to just over 16,000 in a similar category at the end of 2004.
In 2000 there were six grade 8 people in the Department of Health – Today, there are 714. (Grade 8 is a high level, high pay position).
In 2002, (An election year) 26,000 new public positions were created, many of them in the HSE.
There are now administrative and management staff for every 2.5 doctor and nurse in the HSE.
News at One (7th item) – 26th March.
150 extra grade ‘A’ jobs were created last year when only 50 were sanctioned. Meanwhile, cutbacks have seen 400 people on trolleys, a 10% increase in waiting time for a wide range of surgery, withdrawal of home help for children and the elderly.
The HSE has only managed to stay within overall budget by diverting development and capital monies away from key government priorities intended to address the needs of an ageing and expanding population.