Proposals to downgrade Cork and Kerry slated
The consultants’ report, details of which were published by the Irish Examiner yesterday, recommends having one regional “centre of excellence” for acute care based in Cork University Hospital. This effectively means that all other hospitals in the Cork and Kerry region currently providing acute care would be downgraded to non-acute “local centres of excellence”.
Mr Allen was scathing of the “faceless consultants”, telling the Dáil that their recommendations would “victimise” people in the southern region.
He also criticised Health Service Executive (HSE) chief executive Prof Brendan Drumm for resorting to consultants in the first place.
Mr Allen said Prof Drumm was “prepared to give enormous amounts of taxpayers’ money to external, private consultants to produce reports recommending what he wants. He then claims they are independent and he must implement them without any real internal or public debate, no matter how good or bad the recommendations are.”
The attack on Prof Drumm was particularly noteworthy because Mr Allen is chairman of the Dáil Public Accounts Committee, which monitors how public money is spent.
Labour TD Sean Sherlock said the people of the region had been “through the mill” in terms of dealing with HSE obfuscation over the hospital plans.
He launched a particularly vigorous defence of Mallow General Hospital.
The issue was also raised in the Seanad by Fine Gael Senator Jerry Buttimer.
Junior minister Áine Brady, responding to the criticisms last night, said it would be “mid-June” before the HSE expected to be in a position to indicate “the general terms” of its proposals.
The consultants’ report represented merely one “input” into the reconfiguration and “would not be the only means by which decisions... are informed”.
She also stressed Kerry General Hospital would retain acute services.
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