Claims Kerry acute hospital is to be downgraded are refuted

By Anne Lucey

A hospital group has rejected claims that University Hospital Kerry (UHK), the southern region’s third-biggest acute hospital, is being downgraded.

If anything, staff numbers at the Tralee facility have increased, the South/South West Hospital Group insists.

Furthermore, new plans across all departments have been released to the Irish Examiner to ease public concerns. The move follows unease in the county about the future of the 300-plus-bed hospital, which was renamed two years ago from Kerry General.

Last month, nurses from the emergency department and their families took to the picket line outside the hospital on their own time to highlight the fact that while most A&E units got extra staff after national protests in 2015-16, Kerry did not.

The Tralee hospital serves north Cork, west Limerick and Kerry and, on average, admits 100 patients a day, many of whom are acutely ill. Figures point to 20 patients daily, on average, on trolleys waiting for admission to wards.

The hospital has also lost key staff and is without a full-time consultant cardiologist specialist, despite the fact that heart diseases remains the biggest killer in Kerry. It now also has just one geriatrician for the region, despite boasting one of the oldest populations in the country.

Councillor Toireasa Ferris expressed fears about the hospital’s future. Referring to breaks in fluoroscopy equipment which will take nine months to repair, the Sinn Féin councillor referred in radio interviews to previous warnings that the machines needed to be replaced three years ago.

She believes the hospital is being deliberately downgraded. Ms Ferris indicated she had shared the belief for some time.

I remember speaking to a consultant in Nenagh in Tipperary in 2008 when they were downgrading that hospital, and she said to me ‘you know that the same thing will be happening in Kerry within 10 years’ and it seems she was right,” Ms Ferris said.

Kerry TD Michael Healy-Rae said hip and knee replacements had been halted for the past few months and were only due to resume next week.

Fianna Fáil’s John Brassil recently wrote directly to the chief operations officer of the hospital group to express his concerns about staff shortages in the diabetic and stroke unit and cardiology.

It cannot be allowed to continue,” he said, also suggesting patient safety could be put at risk.

However, the South/South West Hospital Group, which was set up to improve nine acute hospitals across counties Cork, Kerry, Waterford, Tipperary, and Kilkenny, dismissed the claims, saying “there is no question of downgrading UHK”.

All services currently provided at the Kerry hospital “will continue”, a spokesperson said, in a statement. The group said it was supporting the Kerry hospital, pointing to developments such as a new stroke unit, palliative care unit, and theatre upgrades.

It also pointed to proposed increased services.

“There are also plans for a new blood science laboratory, a new medical oncology unit, and new obstetric operating theatre,” it said.

Staff numbers, the group said, now stood at 1,993, up from 899 in 2014, and 10 consultants were being hired.

“This is a hospital that is developing and expanding with the support of the hospital group.”