Hospital downgrade 'would have huge impact on county'
A move by the Health Service Executive to impose dramatic changes to acute hospital services in the south east, with South Tipperary General Hospital expected to be a major loser in the process, has been branded 'absolute madness'
Members of South Tipperary County Council on Monday gave their unequivocal support to the ' Save our Hospital'campaign and hit out at the HSE, labelling it as a body that had consistently refused to give straight answers over their plans. The HSE was blamed for constantly ignoring South Tipperary County Council and their representatives on the HSE forum for the south.
A 'let them be honest and up front' plea received the widespread support of all twenty six members of the County Council.
The council will now draw up a corporate submission in support of STGH and outline the negative impact it would have on South Tipperary if acute services were transferred and the hospital downgraded. The Council will also call on Oireachtas members to get the HSE to attend a meeting with the County Council.
Chairman Liam Ahearn, a member of the HSE South Forum, said he and other members had consistently tried to get answers from the officials on the reconfiguration process but no answers were forthcoming.
"We just cannot get straight answers from them, it is not satisfactory. You just never get a straight answer from them" he said.
County Manager Ned O'Connor said that there was no doubt that any decision to downgrade the hospital would have huge implications for the county.
He proposed that as stakeholders, the Council would draw up a submission on the hospital and the effects any downgrading would have on the county. There was no doubt but that such a move would have an impact on industry and the quality of life for people living and working in the area
A position paper would be prepared that could be used at a meeting with the HSE who should be invited to the chamber.He said the Oireachtas members were best placed to arrange the meeting.
At the meeting members supported a motion tabled by Cllr. Tom Wood related to the HSE plans for the Clonmel hospital which sought a meeting between all relevant parties.
Cllr. Wood said it was over forty years ago since discussions took place about the location of the acute hospital services in South Tipperary on a single site. It was fifteen years since the agreement was reached between Cashel and Clonmel that the services be located in Clonmel. After having had a conflict between both towns for years, the conflict was now between Clonmel and Waterford/ Kilkenny.
Cllr. Wood said that not only staff were concerned but so too were the people of South Tipperary .
"This is an issue that goes far beyond just the staff of the hospital, this issue concerns everybody," he insisted.
He said that concern was there because at no time over the years had the HSE attended a meeting when asked about the services proposed for Cashel and Clonmel. Where the HSE was concerned, there has always been a hidden agenda, removal of services by stealth and downgrading of hospitals amounting to a constant 'threat after threat'.
Cllr. Michael Murphy said €45m had been invested in the hospital and any attempt to seriously downgrade the services available in Clonmel was 'absolute madness'. In the 'Rate your Hospital' website, Clonmel was the number one public hospital. Any downgrading would seriously curtail plans to attract new industry to South Tipperary and he proposed writing to the so called "competent' Tanaiste to inform her of the situation.
Cllr. Darren Ryan said that the HSE was the 'greatest monster' ever created in the country. The issue on the hospitals now came down to 'political power' and he said all five Oireachtas members had to secure a meeting with Minister Mary Harney.
Cllr. Richie Molloy said there was a huge fear factor among the people of South Tipperary because of the uncertainty about the future of their hospital. Thousands of people had to take to the streets to show the HSE what the hospital means to the people of South Tipperary.
Cllr. Jack Crowe said the legal agreement that was signed in 1996 should be used to protect the hospital services in South Tipperary. He was disappointed to hear a South Tipperary Oireachtas member say the agreement was past tense.
Cllr. Michael Fitzgerald said the agreement had been made 'tatters' of by the HSE. "Three quarters of what was in that agreement has already been broken," he said.
Cllr. Seanie Lonergan, a member of the HSE forum, said his questions had been constantly ignored by HSE South East Hospital Network Manger Richard Dooley.
"If they do come to a meeting here we will not get any answers then either", he said.
The chairman of the 'Save Our Hospital' committee, Cllr. Seamus Healy said the HSE had refused to come to a number of meetings. They had announced the closure of St Michaels psychiatric unit without any consultation. They should be forced to attend a meeting of the County Council to discuss the issue.
Cllr. Healy said the hospital issue was a decision for the government. Clonmel was a vibrant hospital, providing excellent quality of service which would bear no comparison to the any of the hospitals closed or downgraded so far in the process.
"It's a very significant hospital, it is unacceptable that the HSE are proposing to transfer services," said Cllr. Healy.
A suggestion that the members of the council stage a sit in if the HSE had not responded to their request for a meeting after two weeks was made by Cllr. Sylvia Cooney Sheehan
The Carrick councillor said members should sit in at the council chamber until the HSE came to a meeting there.
"We should stand up to the HSE. We should put ourselves on the front line," she said.
Cllr. Joe Brennan said if the members staged a sit in they would only be laughed at by the HSE who had taken no notice of the County Council up to now anyway.
"The HSE has shown scant regard for this chamber as it is, they are not going to pay any attention to it now," he said.
Cllr. Mary Hanna Hourigan said it was the feeling of a lot of people that a decision has already been made. More pressure should be applied to the Oireachtas members of all parties.
"I don't think the South Tipperary Oireachtas members of all parties are fighting hard enough for this," she said.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Weather for Clonmel
Saturday 04 February 2012
Today
Heavy rain
Temperature: 2 C to 9 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 6 C to 7 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: South west
