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The HSE will put in place 279 additional hospital beds this year and move to operating health services over a seven-day rather than a Monday-Friday basis, its chief executive Bernard Gloster has said.

The new HSE national service plan for 2025 also says expansion of termination services and implementation of the recommendations of the independent review of this area will be among the areas on which it will focus this year.

The HSE plan also says the organisation will prepare for the opening of the new national children’s hospital and advance the planned new national maternity hospital.

It says the HSE will deliver an additional 279 acute hospital beds and expand services in both hospitals and in the community to run on a seven-day basis.

Mr Gloster said the priority in 2025 “must be a relentless focus on productivity” and changed ways of working.

“Expanding our workforce, improving our buildings, adding new capacity and seeing more people than ever must all be pursued at the same time,” he said. “I am particularly committed this year to finalising plans and discussions with staff partners to move the organisation from where it is on a 5/5 day basis to 5/7 and adding to on-call services by having rostered services over the entire week.”

HSE chairman Ciarán Devane said while there had been significant progress over the last three years a priority for the HSE this year would be to further reduce waiting times. In boosting services in hospital emergency departments, the HSE plan says it will seek to prioritise access to diagnostics to support early clinical decision-making. The plan envisages screening for patients aged over 75 for delirium and frailty at the point of triage in the emergency department, and the provision of early access to emergency and specialist gerontology services.

The plan to boost emergency department services was released on the day that the health and safety watchdog Hiqa found that overcrowding in the emergency department at Beaumont Hospital created a “challenging environment” that did not respect the dignity and privacy of patients.

The Irish Times reported last week that Beaumont was among one of three Dublin hospitals which is facing a ban put in place by Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly on new development funding until they showed they had implemented a new management system to monitor productivity and performance.

The HSE plan says a significant priority this year will be to improve disability services, particularly in relation to the provision of access for children and families. However, the plan also warns of potential financial challenges.

It says that over the coming year the cost of running existing services at current levels “will be a significant challenge” in the context of the total funding available to specialist disability services in 2025. The plan says it is not intended to cut services but rather to minimise the level of financial deficit by improving financial controls around staffing levels, including on agency personnel and overtime.

Mr Gloster also said proposals for the introduction of a national electronic health record was progressing, and he hoped it will conclude to next stage approval by the incoming government. “However, in the meantime there are critical steps along the way to this end, such as achieving a summary care record, HSE patient app and use of technology to develop virtual care.” The Irish Times

At the top of the year, a series of laws went into effect. One being a tax credit for rural healthcare.

House Bill 1339 raised the rural hospital tax credit from $75 million to $100 million. This allows for more taxpayer money across the state of Georgia to be donated which provides additional cash infusion for rural hospitals.

Director of Policy and Research with the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, Chris Denson was closely involved with the bill. He says 49 hospitals are eligible to receive this tax credit.

Denson says the General Assembly intended for this to be a lifeline for many rural hospitals.

“Many of these hospitals, which have one- or two-days cash on hand in order to keep them financially viable as a provider of healthcare in their communities,” Denson explains.

According to Denson, many of these rural hospitals need because of their payer mix.

“Many rural hospitals struggle with a payer mix that is heavily uninsured or on Medicaid or on Medicare,” Denson says. “…really, it’s commercially insured patients that are the lifeblood of many hospitals because they reimburse above cost. “

Denson continues, “when you have an older, typically poorer population that many rural hospitals serve, the hospital tax credit programs has helped ensure that we didn’t have any more closures than what we had experienced in the 2010’s.”

This raise to the rural hospital tax credit relieves the burden to open a new hospital or new service line in rural Georgia to provide maternal and mental health care amongst other needs.

Denson explains, “In essence… a donor will either allocate money towards a specific hospital or they’ll donate money to the program generally, and then the state will distribute that money based on the need to the hospital. Based on this ranking they’ve accumulated to determine which hospitals are the most financially neediest.”

Denson says typically the state legislature will put a sunset provision or renewal on a tax credit.

This new law has also extended the time for the sunset provision for both hospitals and taxpayers.

The passing of House Bill 1339 has also increased the cap amount of tax credit a shareholder, member, or LLC can donate.

Prior to this law, the cap was $10,000. Now it’s $25,000. WRBL

In a bid to save precious lives, the district administration has launched the Farishtey Scheme, which provides free treatment to road accident victims within the first 48 hours of the mishap. In the district, 12 government hospitals and 64 empanelled private hospitals have been listed under the scheme.

Under the scheme, patients injured in road accidents would receive free treatment at nearby government hospitals and empanelled private hospitals, regardless of their economic status.

Deputy Commissioner Sakshi Sawhney explained that the scheme aims to make maximum use of the “golden hour” — the critical hour immediately following a road accident. During this time, prompt medical attention can significantly increase a seriously injured person’s chances of survival.

Deputy Medical Commissioner Dr Gurmeet Kaur added that individuals who would bring accident victims to the hospital would be honoured by the government and would not be subject to police investigation unless they wish to become eyewitnesses.

The list of empanelled hospitals under the Farishtey Scheme is available on the department’s official website, sha.punjab.gov.in. The Tribune

Medical costs in India are seen to surge by 13.2% in 2025. Meanwhile, 2024 is projected to jump by 12.5%, amidst rising healthcare demand, higher pharmaceutical and medical technology costs, and broader economic conditions.

Insurers are likely to adjust premium rates to counter the impact of escalating medical costs and sustain profitability. For 2025, rates Last year saw 10.4%, according to WTW survey of insurers.

Asia-Pacific is also slated to rise by 12.3% in 2025, thanks to rising health service usage, escalating pharmacy costs, and the adoption of new medical technologies are driving the surge.

Medical inflation in India is projected to range between 10% and 15% in 2025, continuing the upward trend of recent years.

India continues to grapple with a high prevalence of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, along with a growing incidence of cancer in recent years.

Significant changes in cancer-related coverage were observed in 2024, with an increased emphasis on early detection, innovative treatments, and expanded insurance options.

A notable trend is the inclusion of genetic testing for cancer risk assessment in insurance policies for high-risk individuals, enabling early detection and personalised treatment planning.

This development reflects a shift toward more comprehensive and proactive healthcare solutions in the Indian market. Insurance Asia

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has ruled that it does not matter for medical reimbursement purposes whether a hospital is approved in life-or-death emergencies. The assertion came as Justice Jasgurpreet Singh Puri held an employee entitled to “balance amount of Rs 10 lakh”.

The issue before the Bench was whether the petitioner, admitted in an emergency condition for liver transplant to a Chennai hospital, was entitled to the grant of full medical reimbursement, even though the healthcare institution was “unapproved”.

Justice Puri was told that the petitioner, who was working as a Junior Engineer with the Haryana State Agriculture Marketing Board, was initially under treatment at the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences, New Delhi. An empanelled hospital, it was approved by the respondent board.

His daughter was identified as a donor, but was later deemed unfit for donation. As such, liver transplant could not take place at the New Delhi hospital. Subsequently, the petitioner sought a liver transplant at the Chennai hospital, where a compatible donor was available.

His counsel contended donors and the donees were put on a national portal for correlating their vitals for donation. He was informed by the Chennai hospital that a donor was compatible as far as the vitals and other medical conditions were concerned. As such, the petitioner had no option but to rush to the institute for transplantation.

“The facts suggest that the petitioner actually got treatment of liver transplant from Chennai, and he has been discharged from the hospital, and as per the counsel for the petitioner, he is medically well now,” Justice Puri observed.

The petitioner underwent the transplant under emergency conditions and sought full reimbursement of the treatment cost. The board contested the claim, citing its medical reimbursement policy, which restricted payments for treatments at unapproved hospitals.

The court noted that the petitioner acted diligently by initially seeking treatment at an approved hospital. However, the unavailability of a suitable donor compelled him to shift to an unapproved facility in an emergency to save his life.

“In the entire scenario, the petitioner, in order to save his life, had gone to the hospital at Chennai in an emergency condition, which is an unapproved hospital, for the purpose of liver transplantation and saved his life,” the court observed.

Citing previous rulings, the court asserted that “the law did not require prior permission in a situation where the survival of the person was the prime consideration.” The Tribune