Madam, - The apparent downgrading of Peamount Hospital, the only national referral centre for tuberculosis (The Irish Times, March 20th), is incomprehensible at a time when the disease is beginning to prove resistant to the treatments available.
Over the years we have referred many homeless people to Peamount and we are acutely aware of the important role the hospital plays in treating TB - a disease we cannot be complacent about.
The difficulty for some in accessing services in overcrowded acute hospitals is well documented - a problem that is even more serious for the people we meet every day.
Given the virulence of the modern strains of TB I do hope the downgrading of Peamount will not turn out like the story of the Harcourt Street railway line. How much energy, time and money could have been saved if something perfectly efficient and useful had remained open?
More seriously in this case, are we playing with people's lives by not thinking through the full implications of this decision? - Yours, etc.,
ALICE LEAHY, Director and Co-Founder, TRUST, Bride Road, Dublin 8.