News
Concern raised over Portiuncula review delays
Concerns have been expressed by a local TD over the delay of reviews into maternity and A&E services at Portiuncula Hospital.
The reports were due to be published before year-end, but this has been postponed because of the “complexity and scale of the work to be undertaken”.
Independent Deputy Denis Naughten questioned the timing of the publication, worrying that it could be earmarked for after the General Election – with the intention that a new Health Minister downgrade maternity and A&E services at the hospital.
The review of care provided to women in the maternity unit at Portiuncula was commissioned following the death of two babies during childbirth in a nine-month period in 2014, and will concentrate on a total of 18 cases.
The Saolta Hospital Group – which operates Portiuncula – said affected families will be provided with their draft sections of the report in January in advance of its completion.
A separate review of A&E services is also being conducted at all Saolta hospitals – UHG, Merlin Park, Portiuncula, Roscommon, Sligo, Mayo and Letterkenny.
Deputy Naughten said it was “very concerning” that the publication of reviews has been delayed and he feared a downgrade in services in Ballinasloe.
“The review of maternity services was sought by families and staff at Portiuncula Hospital to provide parents with the facts of what happened to their babies in the hospital and, secondly, to ensure that the supports and staffing were put in place to sustain the second busiest maternity unit in the West of Ireland.
“Just last month, I was told that we would have this report by the end of the year, but now it seems that it is to be pushed out again until ‘early 2016’.
“There has always been a fear that a report commissioned by the Saolta Hospital Group would be used to implement a previous internal review to downgrade the maternity unit at Portiuncula Hospital.
“The further delay to the completion and publication of the report adds to these concerns.
“Furthermore, the Saolta University Hospital Group is currently conducting a review of A&E services at all of its hospitals, and there is a fear that this will be used as a tool to downgrade the Emergency Department at the hospital.
“Interestingly, the review is not expected to be completed until after the upcoming General Election and the fear is that it may follow the ‘Roscommon model’ of pressurising a new Health Minister to act quickly.
“Back in 2014, the Department of Health made a submission to the Budget which included a proposal to remove the 24/7 A&E from Portiuncula Hospital.
“At that time Minister Leo Varadkar gave a guarantee that this would not happen under his watch.
“However, the current review will cause a lot of concern locally and if it were to be implemented not only will patients have further to travel to avail of emergency care but it will push our over-stretched ambulance service beyond breaking point,” said Denis Naughten.
In response to queries from the Connacht Tribune, a Saolta spokesperson issued the following statement: “[We] have advised the families concerned in the review of Maternity Services at Portiuncula that it is now likely that it will be the first quarter of 2016 before the final review is completed and have apologised for the delay in completing the review.
“This is due to the complexity and scale of the work to be undertaken, given the increase in the number of cases (18 in total) being reviewed.
“In addition to meetings with families, there have been 250 staff interviews carried out involving the 18 cases.
“As part of the process, in early January the families will be provided with the section of the draft report detailing the individual timeline of the events relating to their case to check for accuracy in advance of final completion of the review.
“In the letter to families, the Group acknowledged “that this is a particularly difficult time of year to deal with issues that no doubt cause you and your family upset” and explained that it wanted to ensure that families were kept up-to-date on the work that has been undertaken to date.
“Regular re-audits at the maternity unit have confirmed that there is no continuing patient safety concern arising from the issues identified.
“There have been no negative perinatal outcomes at Portiuncula since the enhanced monitoring measures were put in place.
“Saolta regret any distress that is being caused to the families involved and offers any services that they may require to support them in dealing with the issues that arise,” the statement reads.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
On the eve of completing his 150th marathon, an odyssey that has taken him across 53 countries, Loughrea’s Marathon Man has announced that he is planning to hang up his running shoes.
But not before Jarlath Fitzgerald completes another ten races, making it 160 marathons on the occasion of his 60th birthday.
“I want to draw the line in 2026. I turn 57 in October and when I reach 60 it’s the finishing line. The longer races are taking it out of me. I did 20 miles there two weeks ago and didn’t feel good. It’s getting harder,” he reveals.
“I’ve arthritis in both hips and there’s wear and tear in the knees.”
We speak as he is about to head out for a run before his shift in Supervalu Loughrea. Despite his physical complaints, he still clocks up 30 miles every second week and generally runs four days a week.
Jarlath receives injections to his left hip to keep the pain at bay while running on the road.
To give his joints a break, during the winter he runs cross country and often does a five-mile trek around Kylebrack Wood.
He is planning on running his 150th marathon in Cork on June 4, where a group of 20 made up of work colleagues, friends and running mates from Loughrea Athletics Club will join him.
Some are doing the 10k, others are doing the half marathon, but all will be there on the finishing line to cheer him on in the phenomenal achievement.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
From the Galway City Tribune – An impassioned plea for a ‘masterplan’ that would guide Galway City into the future has been made in the Dáil. Galway West TD Catherine Connolly stated this week that there needed to be an all-inclusive approach with “vision and leadership” in order to build a sustainable city.
Deputy Connolly spoke at length at the crisis surrounding traffic and housing in Galway city and said that not all of the blame could be laid at the door of the local authority.
She said that her preference would be the provision of light rail as the main form of public transport, but that this would have to be driven by the government.
“I sat on the local council for 17 years and despaired at all of the solutions going down one road, metaphorically and literally. In 2005 we put Park & Ride into the development plan, but that has not been rolled out. A 2016 transport strategy was outdated at the time and still has not been updated.
“Due to the housing crisis in the city, a task force was set up in 2019. Not a single report or analysis has been published on the cause of the crisis,” added Deputy Connolly.
She then referred to a report from the Land Development Agency (LDA) that identified lands suitable for the provision of housing. But she said that two-thirds of these had significant problems and a large portion was in Merlin Park University Hospital which, she said, would never have housing built on it.
In response, Minister Simon Harris spoke of the continuing job investment in the city and also in higher education, which is his portfolio.
But turning his attention to traffic congestion, he accepted that there were “real issues” when it came to transport, mobility and accessibility around Galway.
“We share the view that we need a Park & Ride facility and I understand there are also Bus Connects plans.
“I also suggest that the City Council reflect on her comments. I am proud to be in a Government that is providing unparalleled levels of investment to local authorities and unparalleled opportunities for local authorities to draw down,” he said.
Then Minister Harris referred to the controversial Galway City Outer Ring Road which he said was “struck down by An Bord Pleanála”, despite a lot of energy having been put into that project.
However, Deputy Connolly picked up on this and pointed out that An Bord Pleanála did not say ‘No’ to the ring road.
“The High Court said ‘No’ to the ring road because An Bord Pleanála acknowledged it failed utterly to consider climate change and our climate change obligations.
“That tells us something about An Bord Pleanála and the management that submitted such a plan.”
In the end, Minister Harris agreed that there needed to be a masterplan for Galway City.
“I suggest it is for the local authority to come up with a vision and then work with the Government to try to fund and implement that.”
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
