HSE 'wasting' millions on patients' travel for dialysis
Kidney charity chief says use of idle machines would save money
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The €10m bill for transporting patients to kidney dialysis services annually could be cut if the Health Service Executive (HSE) made more more efficient use of machines which currently lie idle, it was claimed yesterday.
Mark Murphy, chief executive of the Irish Kidney Association pointed out that currently around €600,000 of this money is going on transporting patients from Tullamore to Beaumont Hospital for dialysis.
However, at the same time there are five dialysis machines in Tullamore Hospital lying idle because of a lack of nurses. He also said patients from Limerick were having to pass their own hospital and endure a long journey to Galway for dialysis.
"There is a three-year-old plan to expand that dialysis unit. It seems to have got lost between the health boards and the HSE. It went off the radar and went missing.
"Recently it has been decided to put a satellite dialysis unit in Limerick", he added.
The HSE paid for taxis, private ambulances and mini-buses for 1,150 kidney patients in 2007 -- 175 patients provided their own transport, according to an RTE report. It said over 90 patients travelled from one HSE region to another for treatment.
There are currently around 1,300 people around the country on dialysis treatment.
A spokesperson for the HSE said yesterday: "The practice of providing transportation services for patients who require renal dialysis, in place under the old Health Board structure, has remained in place since the establishment of the HSE.
"While it was not a statutory requirement for the health boards or the HSE to provide this service, the practice arose for a variety of reasons, including but not confined to: a lack of other transport options available for patients; clinical need to provide transportation; hardship/social issues and the location of particular dialysis services.
"The HSE has inherited a variety of different local practices in this regard, and through its ongoing work to create a patient transport policy, is aiming to standardise the approach to renal patient transport among other patient transport issues. Key considerations in this regard are achieving value for money and equity for patients."
Steps
He added: "Regarding the need to travel for dialysis, the HSE has been taking steps to increase its provision of dialysis throughout the country to minimise patients' journeys where possible along with meeting the growing demand for dialysis.
"For example, in the last two years there has been an increase of over 170 patients who require dialysis services. An example of improved local capacity is the dialysis centre run in conjunction with the private sector in Kilkenny, which has improved the local access for patients in the south-east. A similar expanded service planned for Limerick is expected to come on stream by end of 2008.
"While there has been improvement in services nationally, issues remain in some areas where local capacity needs to be increased.
"It is the HSE's intention to continue its work to develop local services to meet the local need, with all developments in the service being orientated towards reducing the distance that people need to travel."
- Eilish O'Regan Health Correspondent
