CUTBACKS:THE GOVERNMENT is facing the threat of further hospital protests similar to those in Roscommon after it emerged that two more emergency departments are to close at the end of the year.
The emergency department in Mallow hospital is to be closed and replaced by a smaller-scale urgent care centre in November, members of the Dáil Public Accounts Committee were told yesterday.
Meanwhile, the critical care unit in St Columcille’s Hospital in Loughlinstown, Co Dublin, is to be transferred to St Vincent’s hospital in the same month, HSE officials told the committee.
The HSE has identified 10 hospitals where “significant risk issues” exist and changes will have to be made, the committee was told.
These include hospitals in Navan, Portlaoise, Loughlinstown, Mallow, Bantry, Ennis, Nenagh, Roscommon, as well as St John’s Hospital in Limerick and Louth County Hospital.
Under the changes, which are likely to cause concern among local hospital campaigners, high-risk patients will “bypass” hospitals from the list where sufficient senior doctors are not in place.
HSE chief executive Cathal Magee told the committee the reconfiguration of the health services didn’t necessarily mean the demise of small hospitals.
It was clear they had a huge role to play in the provision of health services.
“It’s not about closing these hospitals or reducing their importance, it’s about changing the nature of the healthcare service they provide,” he said.
He claimed people didn’t understand the issues involved and he called on political representatives to contribute to better understanding.
Defending the decision to reconfigure services in Roscommon hospital, he said it arose after it was benchmarked against clinical services in other hospitals.
However, he told Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald that the decision to close Roscommon’s emergency unit was not based on unpublished data showing the death rate among cardiac patients in Roscommon was four times that in University College Hospital Galway. Local campaigners have disputed the figures.
Ms McDonald said that for patients, safety was a given but they were also concerned about access to hospital services.
Accusing the HSE of disregarding geographical access, she questioned whether the Galway hospital was able to take on the extra patients from Roscommon when that hospital’s emergency department closed.
Mr Magee said he didn’t have concerns about Galway’s capacity. The flow of patients from Roscommon wasn’t entirely into Galway anyway, he added.
Dr Philip Crowley, HSE national director for patient safety, said the closure of the Roscommon unit wouldn’t result in the amount of disruption that those who were upset about the decision feared.
“When the dust settles, no harm will have been done,” he said.