This service can be kept - and we can save money

Donegal TD Joe McHugh has questioned Government plans replace Donegal Hospice out-of-hours palliative care by specialist junior doctors with out-of-hours care from Locum GPs in order to cut costs.

Speaking in the Dáil last Tuesday night Deputy McHugh said that the planned cutbacks contradict the Government’s “own stated policy on palliative care”. The Fine Gael TD said that desired savings from the Hospice Budget could be achieved by paying out of hours specialists on a call-by-call basis instead of the existing ‘block-payment’ method.

Deputy McHugh said:

“The National Advisory Committee on Palliative Care Report (2001) is the Government’s blueprint on palliative care. The report declares that specialist palliative care should be available in all care settings and should support the patient wherever he or she may be - at home, in hospital, in residential care, in day centres and outpatients or in a specialist palliative care unit. Replacing specialist junior doctors with locum GPs does not represent the philosophy contained in the report.

“There is an alternative. Donegal Hospice’s specialist junior doctors are contracted on a block monthly payment. Instead the HSE should pay these specialists on an out-of-hours call-by-call basis. Specialists may only receive 12 to 15 out-of-hours calls per month.

“This new system would achieve the necessary savings and would maintain the existing service, which is vital for Donegal cancer patients.”