THE FAILURE to replace two consultants at St Mary's Orthopaedic Hospital in Gurranabraher in Cork on a permanent basis is a cause for concern especially given HSE plans to concentrate services at Cork University Hospital, local Fine Gael TD, Bernard Allen, has warned.
Mr Allen said it was "unacceptable" that no permanent consultants were being appointed by the HSE to replace two consultants who have retired from St Mary's Hospital over the past two to three years, with the HSE instead opting to rely on locums to provide the service.
"Clearly this is unacceptable and is, in effect, a downgrading of the capacity of St Mary's Orthopaedic Hospital, Gurranabraher to deal with patients," said Mr Allen who recently raised the issue with Minister for Health Mary Harney.
"It is one of many instances of cuts by stealth in the health service which are directly impacting on the health and wellbeing of patients by reducing the capacity of St Mary's Orthopaedic to deal with them."
Mr Allen said the HSE's failure to appoint permanent replacements to the two positions at St Mary's was particularly worrying given the apparent plans by the HSE to concentrate services at CUH and staff at St Mary's were worried about the future.
"It certainly isn't doing much for the morale of staff at the hospital and, in my view, there is an agenda by the HSE to centralise everything at CUH - we're already seeing breast cancer services going there from the South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital," he said.
Mr Allen said the Government's failure to honour a commitment to locate a regional unit of the National Rehabilitation Unit in the grounds of St Mary's meant people on the northside of Cork were also worried about the future of the hospital.
And he called on the HSE to base an emergency ambulance service at the hospital as a means of reassuring people it was committed to maintaining the hospital - the last on the northside of Cork since the North Infirmary and Our Lady's Psychiatric Hospital closed.
According to a statement from HSE South, the orthopaedic division operates across both St Mary's Orthopaedic Hospital and CUH with all seven orthopaedic consultants having patients at both sites.
"Two orthopaedic consultants retired within the past three years and they are currently replaced by locum orthopaedic consultants. An additional locum consultant has also been employed to meet service needs," said the HSE South in its statement.
"One permanent orthopaedic consultant post has recently been advertised and a second is due to be advertised shortly," it said, adding that there were currently no vacant consultant posts at St Mary's Hospital.
