Elderly being kept at the ‘bottom of the priority pile’

THE elderly are being kept firmly in their place at the “bottom of the priority pile”, an 84-year-old Tralee woman who has been campaigning for a community hospital for eight years claimed yesterday.

Ellen Rowan and other senior citizens have had meetings with three health ministers since 1999, but there’s still no sign of progress on the proposed 50-bed community hospital, due to be built in the grounds of Kerry General Hospital, Tralee.

The chairperson of Tralee Senior Citizens’ Campaign said 20 of her fellow campaigners had died in the past eight years, while many others were in various homes around Kerry.

The Tralee senior citizens met Health Minister Mary Harney in Killarney last May.

The Health Services Executive (HSE) has told the octogenarian that it still has to “resolve the issue relating to the revenue cost implications” of the project.

She said that following the frightening news about the treatment of old people in some nursing homes, she feared the elderly were being kept at the bottom of the pile. “We fear that the HSE, far from treating us as a priority, may well be seeking an excuse for delaying, or abandoning, our project,” Ms Rowan said.

Planning permission has already been granted for the hospital, which will include facilities for continuing care, convalescence and respite care.

“Everything seems to be ready, but there’s nothing happening at the moment,” Ms Rowan said.

The HSE said the hospital was included in its rolling capital programme, 2006-2010.