Published Tuesday, 07 July 2009
The warning came after Health Minister Michael McGimpsey sought £55m to fight the pandemic, but Finance Minister Sammy Wilson refused to provide the funds.
Mr Wilson said on Tuesday the money would have to be taken off other services and argued that to do so would undermine co-ordinated attempts with Scotland and Wales to negotiate fresh swine flu funding from the Treasury.
Minister McGimpsey said: "I am deeply dismayed that the people of Northern Ireland will have to wait until September before consideration is given towards funding for the swine flu pandemic.
"I have been warning for several months that the health service will be facing increasing pressure, yet it would appear that some people are in denial that the pandemic even exists.
"According to the World Health Organisation, the United Kingdom is the most prepared country in the world. Nonetheless, despite rigorous preparation including signing contracts for vaccines to ensure that every person receives appropriate treatment, the Executive refuses to consider paying for these vital drugs before September at the earliest.
"By deferring this issue until September, the Executive is asking the health service to pay for these essential services in the interim.
"The reality is that the health service cannot pay for this crisis on its own. To expect so could possibly mean raiding wards which I find completely unacceptable."
'Priority'
Unison's Lily Kerr, representing public sector workers, said the health service was already being squeezed by the impact of £700m in cuts.
She said: "The Finance Minister now needs to tell us just where health features on his list of priorities. He must address this urgent issue which cannot wait for him to go on holiday before further consideration in September. The Executive cannot expect the sick to pay for the sick."
The Royal College of Nursing Northern Ireland Director Janice Smyth said she was concerned by Mr Wilson's decision.
"This is the most significant threat to public health for decades and it is unacceptable that efforts to care for the vulnerable people who are most at risk from swine flu are being constrained by the apparent refusal of the Assembly to take this issue seriously," she said.
"The Northern Ireland Executive now needs to clarify as a matter of urgency how it plans to fund the tackling of the swine flu pandemic.
"Those local politicians who failed to support this proposed allocation must be accountable for their decision to the communities they serve.
"The health service in Northern Ireland cannot cope with these continuing financial constraints whilst nurses, doctors and other health service workers strive to provide patient care under increasingly impossible circumstances."
'Tactics'
But Finance Minister Sammy Wilson accused Mr McGimpsey of using headline grabbing tactics over swine flu.
"It is a serious issue and we will have to fund it when the pressures come," said Mr Wilson.
"But the funding of it without hurting other departments has not been helped by the crass way in which the health minister, he has become the maverick minister of this Assembly and the Executive, has dealt with this."
Mr Wilson claimed that the Health Minister's plan for fighting swine flu cost nearly £60m when Scotland's blueprint was £100m despite its much larger population.
He said the Executive accepted the need to fight swine flu, but said he was involved in efforts to secure additional funding from London.
"What leverage do we have when we go to the Treasury when the Scottish administration has not said they can find it from their budget," said Mr Wilson.
"They said it's a national emergency and should be funded nationally. The Welsh administration has said the same.
"But the Health Minister, he says 'oh no, we should bear the burden ourselves'."