HSE’s mid-west hospitals review shows profits matter more than patient care

THE recent publication of the HSE review of acute hospital services in the mid-west — more commonly known as the Teamwork Report — represents a sick note for healthcare provision, both present and future, in the midwest region.

In essence, this document is the 2003-published Hanly report in disguise, containing many of the same recommendations in relation to the delivery of acute care.

The mainstay of these proposals was placed in the public arena six years ago and, in the intervening period, little or no advancement in areas such as the upgrading of the ambulance service or the enhancement and development of facilities at Ennis General Hospital or the Mid West Regional Hospital at Limerick, has taken place.

This lack of investment and logistical foresight has to call into question the HSE’s ability and commitment to provide proper acute care for the people of this region as envisaged in the Teamwork report.

The projected cost for implementation of current proposals has been estimated at €260 million. Consistently, the HSE has expressed vagueness towards funding specifics. That fact, coupled with the Minister for Justice’s recent comments, indicating that not a “red cent in the coffers” existed to deal with a similar reconfiguration for the north-east, raises huge question marks.

According to 2006 figures, there was a total of 54,033 attendances at the emergency departments in Ennis (21,164), Nenagh (14,737) and St John’s (19,132). During the same period, there were 54,144 attendances at the emergency department of Mid West Regional Hospital, Limerick.

In order to deal with the proposed reorganisation, 135 new inpatient beds would need to be provided at Mid West Regional Hospital, Limerick.

I don’t believe, in the current financial climate and with the short timeframe proposed for the implementation of the Teamwork report, that this is a realistic prospect.

By withdrawing vital services in the mid-west, and not planning adequately for their replacement, the HSE is putting profits above patient welfare.

The Teamwork report also fails to acknowledge the ‘golden hour’ principle — and in particular the west Clare peninsula where it takes more than two hours to travel to Limerick.

This fact — when added to the dreadful experience at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda in recent weeks where conditions have been described as “inhumane”— has highlighted sharply the failure of the HSE’s centralised approach to the delivery of A&E services.

I call on the public and all elected representatives in the mid-west to make it clear to the Government that the healthcare of the mid-west region is not currently, and never will be, up for sale.

Joe Carey TD

Francis Street

Ennis

Co Clare