A report compiled by the Health Service Executive has accused the Mid-Western Regional Hospital of overspending. The report alleges that the hospital has spent more than €170m from its allocated budget. The report has also highlighted that over 54,700 children and adults are made to wait longer to get their disease treated.

After estimating its overspending, it has been speculated that the hospital will succumb to crisis somewhere in the middle of 2011. Besides Mid-Western Regional Hospital, many other hospitals have also been found guilty of spending more than their budgets allow them to.

The hospitals which have been accused of spending more include University College Hospital Galway, Tallaght Hospital, Cork University Hospital and Our Lady of Lourdes in Drogheda and Beaumont Hospital. These hospitals have been found of spending over €8.5m, €7.5m, €7m and €5m respectively.

The HSE in its report has blamed increased hospital activities and its failure in recouping charges from public and private patients for promoting excessive spending. It is suspected that HSE will be freezing almost all critical vaccines provided to hospital to reduce their overspending. The report notes, “Hospital deficits are being exacerbated by shortfalls in income billing against target and in some hospitals activity levels are up considerably compared with last year”.