Fear and anger over threat to hospital

WHETHER real or perceived, the threat to Mallow General Hospital on foot of an investigation into standards of care announced this week is causing anger and fear in the Co Cork town and its surrounding rural population.

If this really is the first step to downgrading the hospital, nobody knows, but local people are nonetheless convinced it is.

Yesterday afternoon, Mallow General, set regally on a hill overlooking the countryside below, appears packed to capacity.

There is no sign that services are not needed, and if anything, they seem as though they should be extended.

The Emergency Department is particularly busy. All car parking is full. The wards are open to walk through and appear clean and smell fresh. This is a small, friendly, community hospital with a pleasant atmosphere and one that is full of activity.

Two women willing to fight to the bitter end are Nora Justice and Margaret O’Donnell, long-serving members of the hospital action committee.

They first campaigned for the hospital in the early 1970s. In 1989, they assisted the late Joe Sherlock, who was successful in taking a High Court action against the Government, claiming the closure of the hospital would contravene the 1977 Health Act.

Almost 40 years after they first began the fight, they believe are facing a new threat. “They were closing beds and wards but we wanted them kept open and got out and campaigned and protested,” says Nora.

“I have been a patient on numerous occasions and I am speaking as a patient,” Margaret says. “You could not get any better care or service than you do in Mallow General Hospital. Everyone from the domestic workers to the attendants to the nurses and doctors give you their full attention. We have to keep the hospital. People need to get out and campaign.”

Nora says she was critically ill and having Mallow hospital close at hand saved her life. “If it was not there people would have to go to Cork. People will die if services are taken away. What about someone who gets a heart attack? A perforated ulcer or kidney? They have to go on the bumpy road to Cork. And then you will have problems with ambulances, they are out and about, there is not enough of them. It is a terrible situation.”

Nora feels layers of bureaucracy and management within the HSE is to blame for the staff shortages and budget deficits.

“We have paid all our taxes down through the years and this is what they do to us. The GPs of the town are behind the hospital. I don’t believe there were complaints, I believe they were manufactured.”

According to Margaret, staff at Mallow General are at their wits end due to the moratorium on recruitment and cutbacks. “Staff are devastated. They don’t know what the future holds and are working under serious pressure, but they are still great. If I had a serious illness the only place I would want to go is Mallow. In CUH you are just a number,” Margaret says.

“And what about all the people in Newmarket, Kanturk and Rockchapel, Mitchelstown and Fermoy, the rural areas, what are they going to do, they can’t go to Cork. People are worried sick about it.”