NTPF needs the chop!!

[spidermom]

At a time when funding is cut for kids needing surgery to prevent pain,disability and...when eventually treated...at vastly increased cost because of the progression of the disease....it is time to call a halt to the money spent on the NTPF.

I realise that this means the patients waiting for hips,knees and cataract surgery will be cancelled...but I found this today......

NTPF slashes 2009 outpatient targets by over half


their budget was cut by 10% and yet in one of their key objectives stated for this year they will fall short by 50%!

This is a bad use of resources when money is needed elsewhere!

And should the Ministers policy on hospitals NOT doing small numbers of specialist surgery( e.g.Sligo and breast cancer springs to mind!!!) can she really stand over the NTPF!!!!

[CookieMonster]

No, because if we don't do these operations this way they won't bloody well get done at all!

[spidermom]

90 million would reopen beds and theatres in Cappagh..Crumlin...Ennis...etc....for the likes of Ennis...they could easily manage small cases on the NTPF opening up beds for the bigger cases to be done in Cork etc...even if diagnostics like colonoscopies were shifted to "smaller units" allowing the day case beds to be used...a financial incentive for hospitals to shorten waiting lists instead of financial penalties for those with long lists which result in lists getting longer!!!

Plus not too sure of how many staff are employed by the NTPF...where are they based...rent...services...phone bill etc....how much does it cost to run!!

[CookieMonster]

90 million would reopen beds and theatres in Cappagh..Crumlin...Ennis...etc....for the likes of Ennis..

No it wouldn't. €90m would just about pay for the committee set up to investigate the reopening of beds and theatres, the admin costs of putting associated tasks out to tender, some unknown, unwanted and unnecessary piece of soft/hardware and all associated blatant waste.

[spidermom]

No it wouldn't. €90m would just about pay for the committee set up to investigate the reopening of beds and theatres, the admin costs of putting associated tasks out to tender, some unknown, unwanted and unnecessary piece of soft/hardware and all associated blatant waste.

True...true!!!!


SIGH!

[CookieMonster]

I'll break your spirit yet.

[spidermom]

I'll break your spirit yet.

Well I have no doubt that you'll keep trying!!!!


Should have said aussi..that plenty have tried and failed!!!!

[pjoz]

While the resources expended by the NTPF are relatively small in comparison to the overall health budget, analysis of the funds shortcomings is important “because of what it says about the rest of the system”, they assert “The inconsistencies associated with the NTPF would be much more visible if its budget were multiplied.” (Smith and Normand, 2009, p 386)

[Sailor]

90 million would reopen beds and theatres in Cappagh..Crumlin...Ennis...etc....for the likes of Ennis...they could easily manage small cases on the NTPF opening up beds for the bigger cases to be done in Cork etc...even if diagnostics like colonoscopies were shifted to "smaller units" allowing the day case beds to be used...a financial incentive for hospitals to shorten waiting lists instead of financial penalties for those with long lists which result in lists getting longer!!!

Plus not too sure of how many staff are employed by the NTPF...where are they based...rent...services...phone bill etc....how much does it cost to run!!

Is this not part of the problem - talking about a hospital in Ennis? As far as I recall it's about 30 kms from Limerick

[pjoz]

significant variations were discovered by the Comptroller and Auditor General in the 2004 Accounts of the Public Services, in prices across the eight most common procedures purchased by the NTPF. Using casemix as a benchmark, it was found the cost of procedures were considerably higher when procured in the private sector. It was also found questionable how it was possible for hospitals to have a waiting list problem, and, at the same time, capacity to undertake a substantial number of additional treatments requested by the NTPF. In a latter report this situation was deemed to have worsened and questions regarding the integrity of the waiting list register were also raised. In some cases the Comptroller noted certain hospitals were no longer accepting referrals in order to get waiting lists under control.