Communication ‘poor’ on health service changes

THERE has been a failure to communicate with people on the benefits of reconfiguring hospital services and to understand people’s fear of change, a Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health has heard.

President of the Royal College of Surgeons Prof Eilis McGovern said there was understandable concern and unrest when changes were made.

She said: “We have the facts. We have the figures. We have the rationale but we have been very poor at communicating that to the public. That is something that really has to be addressed.”