Letterkenny General’s budget boost, Sligo General’s cut

Letterkenny General Hospital has seen its budget for 2010 increased by the HSE.
The Health Service Executive employs a system called “casemix” that penalises inefficient hospitals and redirects the money to more efficient ones.
The HSE has confirmed that overall nearly €14 million is being taken from 18 inefficient hospitals and redistributed among 21 efficient ones.
Letterkenny General Hospital has been rewarded with an increase of just over half a million euro in its budget for this year.
In contrast however Sligo General Hospital has seen its budget slashed – The HSE has cut its budget by 1.13 million euro.
The HSE says the budget adjustments – which are based on hospital performances in 2008/09 – are a reflection of each hospital’s true performance against their peers taking account of each hospital’s unique mix of cases and differing complexities
The executive insists that hospitals are not penalised for long-stay patients, neither are they rewarded for discharging patients too early