Protesters refute HSE claims over hospital bed closures

BED closures at a West Cork community hospital are necessary to meet fire safety standards, otherwise the hospital would fail a mandatory registration process, the Health Service Executive (HSE) has claimed.

Yesterday the HSE said independent assessors, Maurice Johnson and Partners, consultants in fire safety engineering, had made recommendations that Clonakilty Community Hospital needed to implement in order to obtain fire certification, necessary for registration. Deirdre Scully, local HSE operations manager, integrated services, said their biggest problem at the hospital was in relation to Block One, where 16 beds face closure.

“We are reducing beds and we need to install a corridor to be fire compliant. It is part of HIQA’s registration process that we have to have a fire certificate,” Ms Scully said.

An inspection of the premises carried out last year by HIQA made no criticism of fire safety standards but Ms Scully said changes were necessary for the purposes of obtaining certification. All nursing homes are required to register with HIQA under the Health Act 2007.

However, the community the hospital serves is rigorously opposed to any further bed closures.

On Saturday, up to 2,000 people marched in protest from the hospital, formerly known as Mount Carmel, to Emmet Square in Clonakilty town centre.

Mayor of Clonakilty, Cllr Kevin O’Regan said they rejected the HSE argument that the number of nursing home beds available in the region was above the per capita requirement and that the HSE figures were based on outdated 2006 Census figures. The HSE claims that while there are approximately 500 long-stay residential care beds in West Cork, 380 would suffice to serve the population.

However Mr O’Regan, chairman of the Clonakilty Community Hospital Action Group, questioned why a private nursing home in the region was building an extra 21 beds if there was no demand.

The HSE has agreed to meet with the action group to discuss its concerns, Mr O’Regan said.

“It’s a top class hospital and we will not stand by and watch more bed closures — 46 beds have been taken out of the hospital since 1998 and the fear here is that the closures will continue until the hospital is no longer viable,” Mr O’Regan said.

Bishop of Cork and Ross, John Buckley said local people had contributed €25,000 through fundraising for the facility.

“It is part of the fabric of West Cork and it should be ensured that adequate accommodation will be provided for the elderly. They should not be pushed to the margins. In the end people will realise that they have enriched us,” he said.