Drumm call for cutbacks ‘outrageous’

MEMBERS of the independent Workers and Unemployed Action Group in Clonmel have described comments by HSE boss Professor Brendan Drumm on hospital cutbacks as “outrageous”.

Professor Drumm said that there was unnecessary retention of patients at South Tipperary General Hospital in Clonmel and up to 40% of patients should be moved out.

The HSE chief executive had been asked to justify the closure of one operating theatre and six surgical beds at the hospital.

However, the WUAG political group in Clonmel said it was “outrageous” to suggest that patients should be discharged. “It is completely indefensible that operations should be delayed and other acute services should be reduced,” said Cllrs Seamus Healy, Billy Shoer, Pat English, and Brian O’Donnell in a statement yesterday.

“The health of the people of South Tipperary must come first,” they said. “Professor Drumm is running a healthcare system, not a business. In a civilised society, patients should be given treatment when they need it. It is the responsibility of the Government to ensure that an adequate level of funding is made available and that these cuts be reversed immediately.”

Last week it was reported that staff at South Tipperary General Hospital had been told to reduce day cases and other procedures, as part of a series of cutbacks that also affected hospitals in Mullingar and Ennis.