HSE centralisation plan for mid-west ‘rotten to the core’

THE HSE has a stubborn unthinking, uncaring mind-set of “plough on regardless” in relation to the transfer of services from hospitals in Ennis and Nenagh to the Mid-West Regional in Limerick, a committee representing the GPs of north Tipperary and Clare has claimed.

Dr Brendan Thornton, the committee’s spokesman, said he was shocked over plans to reduce the stay of surgical patients from six days to four to make for a cut in beds at a time when there was not a “bean in the pot” to finance essential resourcing to make the transfer safe.

Under HSE plans, emergency department and surgical services at Nenagh General, Ennis General and St John’s Hospital in Limerick will be downgraded this year and centralised in the Regional Hospital in Limerick.