Bleak health prefab to stay

DICKENSIAN conditions look set to continue at the only artificial limb-fitting centre in the south.

The centre is contained in an old prefab in the grounds of St Finbarr’s Hospital.

Archaic conditions were publicly highlighted in February 2007 when Labour Deputy Ciarán Lynch made a visit there with a health worker whose husband was having a second prosthetic leg fitted. The prefab was described at the time as being like “a cardboard box” while disabled parking spaces were not close enough to the facility.

Deputy Lynch, former chairman of the Health Service Executive’s (HSE) Southern Forum, demanded an inquiry into the “deplorable conditions”.

In the mid-1980s, plans were made to create a proper limb-fitting units at St Mary’s Hospital, Gurranabraher. But they never came to fruition.

Disillusioned, Deputy Lynch recently tabled a Dáil question to the Minister for Health, Mary Harney, seeking to find out what plans, if any, there were to improve facilities.

She in turn instructed the HSE to respond.

In a reply, the HSE admitted that the building is “very old and is quite unsuitable for its current purpose”. It said “there are no plans, at the moment, to improve this building”. However, the hospital network manager has engaged with the South Lee Local Health Office to review the continued provision of this service in the present location and discussions are ongoing.

Deputy Lynch said he was outraged at the lack of progress.