IMO calls for multi-annual approach to funding healthcare

The IMO has called for the introduction of a multi-annual approach to funding healthcare in its pre-Budget submission.

The Organisation warned that Ireland’s growing and ageing population is poorly served by the “current annual cycle of under-budgeting”. The IMO said this leads to “overspending” in a service that is facing increasing demand and “inevitable, extreme cost-cutting measures” which are damaging to the health service.

The IMO launched its pre-Budget submission today. According to the Organisation, it is “imperative” that the “health system adopt a realistic allocation of resources based on population need, and for priority to be given to developing a safe medical staffing framework across HSE settings to deliver safe, quality care to patients”.

It said this would also help to address burnout among the medical workforce, and improve morale and retention among this cohort.

The IMO added that the Pay and Numbers Strategy – which lays out the recruitment targets and staff ceilings – must take into account safe medical staffing levels, predicted increases in patient demand, and strategic priorities for reform.

Other recommendations from the IMO include:

• Safe medical staffing and workforce planning to ensure that there is an adequate amount of medical staff serving a growing population.
• Increase the number of new inpatient beds from 3,438 to at least 5,000 under the Acute Hospital Bed Capacity Expansion Plan 2024-2031.
• Amend the Critical Infrastructure Act 2026 to include public healthcare facilities as critical infrastructure and to streamline the development and building of vital healthcare infrastructure.
• Introduce tax incentives for investment in general practice infrastructure which would allow individual GPs (as opposed to corporate entities) who invest in their infrastructure to write-off the cost of such investment against tax over a defined period of time.
• A rapid expansion of postgraduate medical training places to meet the needs of the current and future workforce needs across Ireland.

Prof Matthew Sadlier, President of the IMO and Consultant Psychiatrist, said: “The Government must use this opportunity to finally put an end to the annual charade of setting an unrealistically low budget which will inevitably lead to overspending and the unfair castigation of the medical workforce who are working themselves to burnout in a system that is completely unfit for purpose.

“To do this, we must eliminate annual budgetary targets and, for once and all, adopt a multi-annual approach to funding that is realistic and, by extension, provides the foundations for a well-resourced and funding health system. If we do not do this, then nothing will ever change; doctors will continue to work in an inefficient system, budgets will continue to be overrun, and patients will bear the consequences.”

He added that safe staffing and increased bed capacity were key issues. “Without the requisite number of doctors and beds, our health system will be stuck in neutral without any chance of improvement. If we want a better health system, then the basics need have to be addressed first.”

Prof Sadlier added that investment in general practice infrastructure was a priority. “It is prohibitively expensive for GPs to invest in practice infrastructure and they must be supported through tax incentives and through dedicated funding for rural and deprived areas.”

He added that the Chronic Disease Management Programme in General Practice should be expanded on a universal basis to all patients with specified chronic conditions over 18 years old.