Major health cuts across region unveiled

The delivery of child health screening and immunisation programmes in the region may be a challenge in the Midlands this year, the HSE has admitted. The shock news came on foot of cuts in budget for the Dublin-Mid-Leinster area of €218m which were revealed at a meeting in Tullamore on Tuesday. The HPV vaccine programme for cervical cancer, child health screening and school immunisation programmes are to be continued, but run the risk of being curtailed as they are "dependent on available resources", the HSE said. The HSE Service Plan for the Dublin-Mid Leinster area, which includes Offaly, also provides for the closure of 111 long-stay beds It's not yet known if Birr Community Nursing Unit, Riada House in Tullamore or Ofalia House in Edenderry will be affected. Overall, the budget for 2012 is down eight per cent on the previous year, when over-expenditure from last year is taken into account. And the budget for the Midland Regional Hospital in Tullamore is down by €2.2m. Across the Dublin-Mid Leinster region, some 990 whole time equivalent posts will be cut during 2012 and there is a 50% reduction in the agency budget for acute hospitals. On the positive side, a newborn hearing screening programme in the region this year will be introduced in Tullamore this year. Meanwhile, the service plan also highlighted the midlands hospitals as a key risk in managing retirements. See page 6 of this week's Offaly Independent for full details.