Hospital inquiry a closure move?

I BELIEVE the HIQA inquiry into Mallow hospital is really a move by government to try to close it.

I have the good fortune to have a healthy husband as a result of emergency surgery carried out by a team specially selected to operate on St Patrick’s Day, 2006. This team was available before 8am on that national holiday. Thanks to their gifted and unselfish work, my husband is healthy and living a normal life.

I have had many occasions to visit Mallow hospital since then for his aftercare and in connection with other family members and friends.

There seems to be a deliberate attempt to prevent the hospital from being well maintained. Despite poor decor, the staff are always professional and welcoming. This is not mirrored in all hospitals: there are many private hospitals where you pay huge fees and still feel uncomfortable.

Mallow is second to none in the care it provides for people in the north Cork region. It has the most dedicated and outstanding surgeons in the country, motivated by a vocation rather than the greater financial remuneration they could undoubtedly expect elsewhere.

In recent years Mallow has won awards for hygiene and high standards despite the Victorian building. Instead of condemning the hospital the powers-that-be should focus on resourcing the facility properly.

When setting the terms of reference for the review, it would be realistic and credible if they invited a response from people who have availed of the hospital rather than send in an anonymous team to ‘evaluate’ its effectiveness.

I have a message for the HSE and the Government: let Mallow hospital well alone unless they intend to support it in a more meaningful and consistent manner.

Kayren Hayes

‘Iona’

Mulberry

Mitchelstown

Co Cork