Leading cancer care service providers warned this week that new cuts imposed by the Health Services Executive (HSE) will have ‘dire consequences’ for their services.

The allocation for the twelve-bed inpatient unit at Galway Hospice this year has been cut by 3% – resulting in a funding shortfall of €105,000.

The Hospice has already been forced to ‘dig into’ its reserves, following funding cuts of 2.3% last year and 5% in 2010.

Galway Hospice Chief Executive Sean O’Healy said the announcement will mean a “crushing blow”, and warned its coffers could run dry within two years. The inpatient unit costs aro-und €3.5m to operate each year and was funded by the HSE to the tune of €3.8m in 2009.

However, continued HSE cuts over the past three years have reduced this to €3.4m.

So far, the Hospice has managed to maintain full inpatient services by digging into its financial reserves, but these are rapidly reducing, Mr O’Healy warned.

He told the Connacht Tribune: “The decision by the HSE to cut funding to the inpatient unit year after year holds dire consequences for the services.

“Prior to this, we warned the HSE that our funding situation was approaching breaking point. There are minimum staffing levels required to run these services. We reached those levels long ago. There is nowhere left to make staff savings,” said Mr O’Healy.

See full story in this week's Connacht Tfibune.