This article is from page 6 of the 2008-03-25 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 6 JPG
FEARS that nursing staff at Ennis General Hospital will not be rostered for duty in Accident and Emergency between 8pm and 8am from the end of April have been rubbished by the Jett) ay
Fine Gael Deputy Joe Carey said that he was made aware of the ru- mours circulating that this effective downgrading of the hospital and the implementation of the Hanly Report would take place before the feared Teamwork report was published.
The Irish Nurses Organisation said that it understood that the number of nurses were to increase in A and E in June when the 37-hour week came into play.
These latest fears follow on from the news that the €39 million origi- nally designated for the development of Ennis General Hospital has now gone to St Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin.
“This news, 1f confirmed, will rep- resent a fatal blow to health service delivery in County Clare,” said Dep- uty Carey.
“In effect, what this means is that A and E services at Ennis General will be discontinued between those
hours and the care and attention cur- rently provided at the hospital will no longer be available.
“This means that 44,000 Clare people will be outside the golden- hour time for A and E treatment after suffering from an accident, stroke or a heart attack. Recent cases in west Clare have highlighted the need for patients to be able to access key medical services in the County. The closure of A and E services dur-
ing the times proposed will remove the last emergency birth services for Clare. Where will people go if they are involved in a serious car crash or a farm accident or have a sports in- jury?” he asked.
“The HSE cannot be allowed to fol- low this course of action. If you take into consideration the recent trauma bypass decision, abandonment of the €39 million redevelopment com- mitted to by Government before and
after the election, and the continued absence of an on-site CT scanner facility, all these decisions and inac- tions represent key elements in the implementation of the Hanly Report by stealth, and are huge backward steps in Clare healthcare provision which must be resisted at every op- portunity and reversed.”
Deputy Carey will meet with sen- ior HSE officials and the four Clare Oireachtas members next Friday to discuss these concerns.
Meanwhile, Sinn Féin have called on the Government TDs for Clare to resign “if they have any integrity” in light of further delay in the develop- ment of the hospital.
Speaking at Sinn Féin’s Easter commemoration last Sunday, Sinn Fein’s Cathy McCafferty said, “This is appalling but not surprising news. Fianna Fail assured the people of Clare during the general election campaign last year that our hospital would be safe, even going so far as to get planning permission for the project. This latest news proves that promises from Government were oe