Funding boost fails to drive performance at St Vincent’s

St Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin has come under scrutiny after Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill revealed its patient output barely improved despite a 36% rise in staff and a 42% funding boost over five years. The minister plans to introduce hospital performance dashboards to enhance transparency, noting that while Ireland’s health outcomes remain strong, costs are high and productivity lags behind global benchmarks.

She flagged concerns over hospitals’ reliance on the €230m National Treatment Purchase Fund and highlighted inefficiencies like underused weekend scanning facilities due to rostering and digitalisation gaps. A business case for electronic records is with the Department of Health but full rollout may take six years.

The session also addressed mental health compensation cases in Kerry, declining national suicide rates, and the rollout of targeted men’s counselling alongside expanded sexual health services, as officials grapple with workforce, access, and efficiency challenges across the system.

Read the full article for insights on funding performance gaps and upcoming policy shifts.