More than €10m spent by Cork hospitals on taxi services over last five years, figures show 

Over €10m has been spent by Cork hospitals on taxi services in the last five years, new HSE figures have shown.

Between the start of 2020 and the end of 2024, Cork University Hospital (CUH) spent more than €8.5m on taxis — €1.3m in 2020, €1.7m in 2021, €1.8m in 2022, €1.9m in 2023, and €1.8m last year, for a total of €8,526,916.84.

The figures equate to just under €5,000 a day last year, and just over that sum for 2023.

A further €655,753 was spent by Mercy University Hospital, €320,391 by South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital, €742,779 by Mallow General Hospital, and €636,709 by Bantry General Hospital.

Taxis are often used to transport patients who are not in a medical emergency but need to attend appointments, or to transfer them between public hospitals. They have reportedly also been used to transfer to nursing homes discharged patients who do not have family available, and also to transfer files or specimens.

Cork North Central Sinn Féin TD Thomas Gould, to whom the figures were provided in response to a parliamentary question, said taxi drivers should be directly hired by the HSE to do this work.

Mr Gould proposed a value-for-money audit of taxi usage by hospitals.

He told The Echo: “We understand that in some circumstances — where a person has no available family members to take them between healthcare facilities — taxis may be necessary, and I know that taxi drivers do a wonderful job in treating those people with compassion and care.

“But last year, CUH spent €4,920 a day on taxis.

“Surely, this is a sign that they should be directly employing people to do this work.

“This would save money and provide reliable work to a driver. Instead, the solution of the health service is to outsource at a premium.”

The TD described the spend on taxis by Cork hospitals as “eye-watering”, saying he believes it shows “that the current system is fundamentally broken”.

The Echo revealed in 2019 that CUH paid for taxis to transfer patients to private hospitals following record overcrowding levels which saw 60 patients on trolleys in the hospital.

Overcrowding levels have increased since then, hitting a new record of 98 patients on trolleys or chairs in October 2024.

The average number of people on trolleys per day in CUH was 42 in 2019, but rose to an average of 50 per day last year.

The HSE figures also show that transport by taxi is increasing, with the amount spent on taxis increasing by approximately 37% in the five years that figures were provided for.

The figures provided were at their highest-ever level last year, and 2023 was close behind, with costs of over €2.38m both years.

The Echo contacted the HSE for comment.