The case for Mallow hospital is based on a sound and rational approach

PERHAPS Melissa O’Neill should have stated she spent approximately two weeks at Mallow General Hospital (‘Student doctor unimpressed by hygiene audit’, Letters, August 10).

Her letter only warrants a rebuttal in that it has caused offence to many. There is no pretence that all “small hospitals” are the same and it is patronising to suggest that “all that does is offend other small hospitals” – as if Ms O’Neill had worked her way through all of the smaller hospitals in the state. If she had checked the facts she would have gleaned there is a reconfiguration process underway which is supported by all medical practitioners, including more than 100 GPs and consultants, and it is physician-led. The consensus among this group is that there is a future for the hospital based on respect for patients and the ideal that a model of care in a smaller hospital is possible with the right kind of lateral approach.

It is based on a practical need to ensure more patients are not funnelled through the bottleneck at Cork University Hospital which does not have the capacity to deal with a higher throughput. And which smaller hospitals does Ms O’Neill refer to? The HSE has already gutted acute services at Ennis, Nenagh and Monaghan. Ignorance of the facts is a dangerous thing. Ms O’Neill should respect the fact that it is not only politicians like me who are defending Mallow, but also her colleagues within the medical profession. The defence of Mallow is based on a rational and sound approach. It is vital that we all understand this.

Ms O’Neill may choose not to send her family to Mallow hospital. Fair enough. I can provide her with the testimonials of hundreds of families who are grateful to have had the benefit of treatment at Mallow. We count ourselves lucky that staff at Mallow continue to punch above their weight on a number of fronts, particularly on national hygiene audits, a fact that has been ignored by Ms O’Neill.

Seán Sherlock TD

PRO

Mallow Hospital Action Committee

Blackwater Drive

Mallow

Co Cork