20,000 may take part in protest

Between 15,000 and 20,000 people are expected to march in Ennis next month to protest at the downgrading of Ennis General Hospital proposed in the recently-published Hanley report.

The rally, scheduled for Saturday, November 15th will take place three days after the chairman of the Task Force which drew up the report, Dr David Hanley, visits Ennis.

He is expected to defend the report's recommendationswhich include downgrading of the A&E unit with a transferral of services to Limerick's Mid-Western hospital, and the reclassification of Ennis General as a "local hospital" with minor and illness injury units.

At a public meeting attended by over 600 people in Ennis on Tuesday night, secretary of the Ennis Hospital Development Committee, Cllr Joe Arkins (FG) said that each year up to 20 lives are saved or irreparable brain damage prevented by prompt emergency care at Ennis General Hospital.

"Hanley proposes the plundering of resources from Ennis and Nenagh and moving services away from the people. We owe it to ourselves, to our families and to our children that we defend our county hospital."

Cllr Arkins said that the last large-scale protest march to retain the hospital, in 1988, attracted 15,000. "Clare is now a county with 103,000 people and we will be hoping for between 15,000 and 20,000 people on the march."

He said that the people of Clare are demanding the hospital retain a 24 hour, seven-day-a-week consultant staffed A&E unit and full acute medical and surgical status and that it secures the €15 million investment promised in 2000.

Former Fine Gael senator, Mr Michael Howard said that "only for emergency treatment at the Ennis General A&E for a heart attack I suffered nine years ago, I might not be here tonight if I had to travel into Limerick".

Miltown Malbay-based, Cllr Christy Curtin said that if the A&E in Ennis General is closed, people from west Clare will have to undertake journeys of up to one-and-a-half hours to receive care.

North Clare GP, Dr Michael Kelleher told the meeting that he would view with concern the transfer time for patients to care in Limerick.

Cllr Paul Bugler, member of the Mid-Western Health Board, said that the report is fundamentally flawed in asking people to travel inordinate distances for emergency treatment.