Martin criticised over North hospital bid

HEALTH Minister Micheál Martin has been told to keep his nose out of a cross-border row on a new hospital.

The minister's offer to treat patients from County Fermanagh in neighbouring counties in the Republic infuriated hospital consultants and public representatives fighting for the retention and development of a new acute facility in Enniskillen.

Mr Mahen Varma, a consultant at the Erne Hospital in Enniskillen, warned: "I have been to Cavan and Sligo hospitals and they haven't got the capacity. They have beds in the corridors and they don't have the facilities to look after their own patients, let alone ours."

The minister's Northern counterpart Des Browne is scheduled to make a decision on February 24 on the location of a new hospital to service Fermanagh and Tyrone.

One local newspaper agreed with Fermanagh district councillors that Mr Martin should steer clear of the North.

"He should keep his nose out of the hospital debate because if he gets it broken, he would be better off heading for the Erne Hospital than lying on a trolley in his own jurisdiction waiting for treatment," said the Impartial Reporter newspaper.

But a spokesman for the Department of Health said a letter from Mr Martin to his counterpart was misinterpreted.

He said the initiative, on southern hospitals facilitating cross -border patients, came from ex-Stormont minister Barbie de Bruin.

"The minister was not interfering in the new hospital debate in the North, he was merely responding to a request about available capacity in Sligo and Cavan hospitals.

"We have no input into any cross-border health services and we certainly have no intention of getting involved in a hospital debate in the North."

Northern Ireland health minister Mr Browne reportedly postponed a long-awaited decision on the future of acute hospital services in south-west Ulster after receiving a letter from Mr Martin's office.

Ulster Unionist Tom Elliott questioned Mr Martin's figures on the number of patients from Fermanagh that might seek treatment in hospitals across the border 820 in Cavan and 120 in Sligo.

"I don't know where he gets these figures from," said Mr Elliott.

His remarks were endorsed by Sinn Fein's Brian McCaffrey who said cross-border services were not an option. Referring to the inadequacy of some cross-border hospitals, he added:

"I'm at a loss to see how Mr Martin could find places for patients from Fermanagh. Mr Fergus McQuillan of the SDLP said: "It's completely ridiculous to send someone to a hospital that isn't there. Cavan has failed. There have been trolley waits in Cavan all year."