Hospital can’t cope, GPs warn Martin
In an unprecedented move, the 25 GPs based in the town have written to the Minister for Health asking for a detailed plan on how the “intolerable situation” is to be addressed.
The doctors say an expanding population, the transfer of services, the number of asylum seekers and an increase in the range and number of specialist services on offer have all put pressure on hospital staff who are struggling to cope.
Despite what they call “the heroic efforts of our consultant colleagues and all hospital staff,” the building has long outstripped its ability to cope with the numbers availing of it services, “yet more and more are being provided”.
They wrote: “General Practitioners are very concerned that in the absence of a plan to either extend the hospital on its current site or build a new hospital lives are being put at risk. Morale in the hospital is inevitably low.”
They claim:
The A&E is over crowded, inadequate and dangerously near full capacity.
There is no space for proper X-ray facilities.
There are not enough theatres to service the surgical teams.
GPs do not have access to basic diagnostic tools such as ultrasound or physiotherapy.
Consultant locum cover is organised so that “there is no working knowledge as to who is do what job on a week to week basis.”
They also say that GPs have been told that only emergency referrals will be acceptable in the gynaecological and paediatric departments. This is on top of a four-year waiting list for urology appointments and the suspension of appointments for out patients.
The hard-hitting letter concludes by asking all of the patients of the 25 GPs to become more politically involved and to fight for a state-of-the-art hospital.
It concludes: “The present chaotic, dangerous, overcrowded situation cannot be allowed to continue indefinitely. The tragedy must not happen first,” and is signed by Dr Daragh O’Neill for the doctors.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
