TWENTY woman patients who were due to be operated on this month in a Co Tipperary hospital have had their surgery postponed due to cutbacks, according to the Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA).
The IHCA claims the decision to close the gynaecology ward at St Joseph's Hospital, Clonmel, was made by "lay administrators" without any reference to the consultant involved. It is seeking an urgent meeting with the Minister for Health, Mr Noonan to discuss the "near total close down of elective admissions" in the State's health board and voluntary hospitals.
The South Eastern Health Board's general hospitals programme manager, Mr Pat McLoughlin, said it was decided to close the gynaecology ward at St Joseph's for a month because of the "budgetary situation". Compared to this time last year, loo extra women had already been treated
"We did consult with the two gynaecologists. One chose not to continue with the meeting. While the other, I would say, might not have agreed with it but accepted it," said Mr McLoughlin, adding that the women involved would be re scheduled.
But the IHCA's secretary general, Mr Finbarr Fitzpatrick, said one of the consultants in St Joseph's returned from holiday and was told that 20 operations he was to carry out had been postponed.
"It is so medically dangerous for lay administrators to cancel patient admissions. They are not qualified to make these kind of decisions. One of the women on that list may have a condition that required urgent attention and a delay could be fatal. Who knows when they will be rescheduled. We are looking for a clear and unequivocal guarantee that this will never happen again," Mr Fitzpatrick told The Irish Times.
The association fears the bed closures and reduction in operating theatre times will add to the waiting lists and put extra pressure on emergency services.
"There are now 27,700 people on the waiting list and that figure is growing. The sole aim of hospitals and health boards seems to be to balance their budgets without any regard for the consequences this policy may have on patient care," said Mr Fitzpatrick.
He said it was a false economy to close beds while leaving sick people out of work, on social welfare or on expensive medication. "One cannot close 8 to 10 per cent of the national public bed stock without causing mayhem to waiting lists and seriously disadvantaging patients for what are, at best, very marginal budgetary cuts.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said summer bed closures were designed to coincide with consultants' and other staff leave. It was a common occurrence that there was a fall off in elective procedures during the holiday period.
"While the management of hospitals and health boards are best placed to decide on measures which are best suited to local circumstances, the Minister is satisfied that budgetary disciplines can be observed without affecting the over all acute hospital activity for 1996."
Other hospitals affected include St Vincent's, Dublin; University College Hospital, Galway; the General Hospital, Sligo; Limerick Regional Hospital, and all the acute hospitals in the South Eastern Health Board area.