Ward closures loom for Galway hospitals

Date Published: 05-May-2009

GALWAY hospitals are running over budget by a million euro a month and stand to be €12 million in the red by the end of the year.

Figures obtained by the Mayor of Galway Cllr Padraig Conneely reveal that University Hospital Galway (UHG) and Merlin Park Hospital have exceeded their allocated expenditure by €3 million for the first quarter of 2009.

Collectively, the Galway hospitals’ spending for the first three months of the year has amounted to almost €71 million – €3 million higher than their target of €68 million.

Mayor Conneely has been informed that ward closures are now likely as the hospital group tries to claw back some of the deficit in subsequent months.

Hospitals will also be forced to treat more people on an outpatient basis as…