Hospital workers ready to fight downgrade

HOSPITAL workers at the only hospital on Cork’s northside united last night to fight Health Service Executive (HSE) plans to downgrade the facility.

Almost 100 staff from St Mary’s Orthopaedic Hospital packed City Hall’s public gallery to warn politicians that they will resist fiercely any attempts to transfer their services to Cork University Hospital (CUH) on the southside.

They said they will not allow authorities to close the northside’s only hospital following the closure of the North Infirmary General Hospital in 1987.

As some protesters left City Hall they hurled verbal abuse at northside politicians. A woman screamed “you're a backstabbing b**tard” at one Fianna Fáil member.

But they welcomed a council decision to invite HSE officials to City Hall to outline their plans for the 53-year-old hospital.

The protest was sparked after the HSE confirmed that it is conducting a review of the orthopaedic elective service at St Mary’s which could see them transferred to CUH.

An HSE spokesperson stressed that “no definitive decisions” have been taken yet.

However, SIPTU, the union representing most of the hospital’s 237 workers, said they are worried the review will result in job losses and the closure of the hospital.

SIPTU shop steward Ann Marie Collins, who has worked in St Mary’s for 10 years, said staff are concerned and want answers.

Her sister, Lorraine, is on the catering staff and has worked in St Mary’s for nine years. Their father, Gerard, has spent 30 years working in the hospital’s maintenance department.

“We are holding the Government parties responsible for these matters and they will not be allowed to hide behind the HSE on these issues,” she said.

“The HSE should be upgrading the hospital, not downgrading it. There is an unbelievable fear amongst workers that orthopaedic services will be moved to CUH and that staff will be let go. Some workers have said they are worried about being too old to be relocated, or too old to get another job.”

Fine Gael Cllr and SIPTU official Joe O’Callaghan, who is representing St Mary’s workers, described the transfer plans as “daft, insane and unsustainable”.

“The message to Professor Brendan Drumm is: bin these proposals, we will not go quietly. This is our Verdun,” he said.

Labour Cllr Catherine Clancy said she will ask HSE officials at a regional forum meeting on Thursday for a clear statement about their plans for the site.

Fine Gael Cllr John Buttimer said he couldn’t get straight answers from Prof Drumm and the HSE about the future for the St Mary’s campus.

“It’s like trying to get answers from tweedledum and tweedledee,” he said.

Fianna Fáil’s Damian Wallace said his party was not involved in the HSE’s decision to review St Mary’s and he said it would not support downgrading the hospital.

“We will be doing everything in our power to ensure the hospital’s interests are protected,” he said.

And in an emotional address, party colleague Cllr Tony Fitzgerald, whose grandmother was among the first union representatives at the hospital, said its services must be retained.

“Don’t talk to me about the North Infirmary closure. My wife worked there, and nobody from the trade union movement came to my door to solve the problem. I won’t be fooled by this political game — watch it and be careful of it,” he said.

Building work on a new 50-bed community nursing unit started on the hospital’s 80-acre plus campus in August. The HSE is considering putting another 50-bed unit on the site.

The hospital provides a range of other services, including a health centre, outreach maternity clinic, intellectual disabilities services and mental health services.