PATIENTS AWAITING hip-replacement operations and other planned orthopaedic surgery at Our Lady's Hospital in Navan will have to wait longer following a decision by the Health Service Executive to significantly curtail elective operations to contain costs.
Consultants at the Co Meath hospital have reacted angrily to the plan which they say is unfair to patients and makes no economic sense.
A statement issued yesterday by 11 consultants, including lead clinician Declan Reidy, an orthopaedic surgeon, said the partial closure of the elective orthopaedic surgery department in Navan, which serves the northeast region, from Monday next meant the existing service would be cut by 40 per cent, with theatres closing two days a week.
"This follows soon after a complete five-week closure of the service from 28/7/08 to 29/8/08" .
They added that orthopaedic elective surgery was not some "optional extra" to be supplied in good times and denied in bad. "It is about relief of pain, correction of deformity, and restoration of mobility. It is an essential service.
"This curtailment will result in 20 less patients being treated per week. The proposal specifically limits the number of joint replacements. This is a procedure that arthritic patients live for."
Furthermore, they said the average cost to the exchequer for a patient to have a hip-replacement operation in Navan was €5,000. "The cost to the exchequer for a patient to be sent outside the region for a hip-replacement operation is €12,000."
The HSE said hospitals in Louth-Meath were operating above their available budget, and this overspend has to be made up by the end of the year.
"With effect from Monday, October 6th, 2008, the orthopaedic theatres in Our Lady's Hospital, Navan, will not be in use on Wednesdays and Fridays. Also, as in previous years, the orthopaedic department will close from December 12th, 2008, to December 31st, 2008."
It said its main focus was to protect emergency work. Therefore it was looking at reducing elective work and would seek to minimise the impact of this measure on patients.