Sir, – Do not think that Dublin is the only place within the HSE’s incompetent grasp given the row about the suggested children’s hospital being shoehorned into an unsuitable site particularly for patients from outside the M50 ring (ie some two-thirds of the potential users within our population).
I have recently had the privilege of having a total hip replacement as a public patient in Merlin Park Hospital, Galway where treatment and aftercare from staff was superb. This hospital, which is part of one of our centres of excellence in the Mid-Western health area, I have attended since the late 1990s for rheumatoid arthritis treatment.
During the Celtic Tiger years, the HSE targeted this hospital to sell the site and relocate all the facilities in the University Hospital Galway, a totally unsuitable location, with inadequate parking for patients and visitors alike. Fortunately it did not succeed.
Imagine therefore, my disgust during my recent stay in Merlin Park to find that what the HSE had failed to do then, it is doing by stealth now, with procedures being run down and units being transferred to the inadequate location of the University Hospital.The Merlin Park site is an ideal location, with easy access from all parts, without the hassle of city centre traffic. It has more than sufficient land within its boundaries for expansion and is the logical place for expansion. Closing the university hospital would make attendance much better for patients, staff and their visitors alike.
Currently, under new arrangements, some staff are often being asked to split part of their shifts, working a few hours in the university hospital before returning to Merlin Park. Frequently this stupid practice can take up to half an hour, particularly during the morning rush. The final straw – an insult to patient and staff alike (as well as an insult to the Minister) occurred during James Reilly’s recent official visit to the University Hospital when patients were shuffled around the wards, keeping one step ahead because of overcrowding. Though it may be hard to admit, patients were hidden in a stock room.
The activities of the HSE management, both local and national, demand severe scrutiny by TDs and Senators and patients’ visitors alike to prevent nonsensical decisions being made.
Because the Croke Park agreement has frustrated the abilities of local trade unionists to publicly protest at such practices of the HSE, to make the public fully aware of the threats to our hospitals we must make our voices heard. – Yours, etc,