A&E closure ‘evidence of disdain’

The recent closure of the emergency department at the South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital is reflective of the current Government’s evident disdain for the communities they purport to serve.

The closure, last Sunday, went ahead despite that fact that there is significant public opposition to the action. I believe that this opposition would be far more vocal if the coalition hadn’t fostered a civic and political culture in which ordinary people feel completely disempowered as regards the future of their country. This feeling of alienation is even more acute when it comes to strategies around the provision and upkeep of social infrastructure.

People now genuinely feel as though they are simply passengers in their own lives. You would really have to question the role of Government TDs who supposedly represent the interests of the people on the southside of Cork City.

I’m a public representative but I’m a member of this community first and foremost. We are being stripped of a vital community asset and the move will leave the people of the surrounding areas disenfranchised in terms of health services. It seems to me that this Government is hell-bent on removing any form of flexibility in healthcare and they are doing it by ignoring the diversity of health needs that exist within local communities.

However, we shouldn’t really be surprised as the action falls well within the parameters of the Government’s closure/downgrade approach to local A&E services. Emergency departments at Bantry, Ennis, Nenagh, Portlaoise, Loughlinstown, Navan, Dundalk and St. John’s in Limerick City have all been affected on some level, either by threat of closure, downgrading or full removal of emergency care.

Services at Mallow General Hospital were saved only as a result of massive public outcry and active protest. Sometimes even public anger and concern has fallen on deaf ears. We witnessed this when 3,000 people gathered in Ennis to protest against the ending of 24-hour A&E services at Nenagh and Ennis hospitals in Mar 2009. The move is little more than a cynical cost-cutting measure.

They will throw out words and buzz-terms such as ‘streamlining’ and ‘centres of excellence’. What they really mean is that they are going to further concentrate services on two sites.

&The Government can only use the abysmal record of the previous administration as cotton-wool for so long. The honeymoon is over as far as I’m concerned.

Cllr Fiona Kerins SF

Tramore Rd

Cork