Connacht Tribune
Concerns expressed for Clifden hospital’s future
Fears that Clifden Hospital will close before a planned new replacement facility is built and opened by the HSE were raised with health chiefs at a meeting last week.
County Councillors Gerry King (FF) and Eileen Mannion (FG) and Galway senator Seán Kyne (FG) had an ‘honest and frank’ meeting about the future of Clifden Hospital last Friday with HSE staff, including Breda Crehan Roche Chief Officer, HSE Community Healthcare West.
The politicians relayed the fears of staff and the community that the facility would close before a new hospital was built.
And while the HSE indicated it had no plans to close the hospital, the HSE delegation could not give a ‘cast-iron’ assurance that it would remain open until the new 40-bed unit was opened.
Cllr King said that there was a ‘big fear’ that Clifden Hospital will close before the HSE builds a new 40-bed unit on the site of the existing St Anne’s Nursing Home.
The building was first mooted in 2014 and is contained in the current HSE Capital plan. It is currently at design stage.
“The fear is that this hospital could close down. There has been a decline in staff numbers, because retired staff haven’t been replaced. And there has been a decline in patient numbers. Two years of Covid put everything upside down but there is a genuine fear that it will close.
“There is a new facility being built at St Anne’s Nursing Home and that has just been cleared for design stage. But there is probably a two- or three-year gap before that is up and running and the fear is Clifden Hospital won’t remain open until that’s up and running,” Cllr Gerry King said.
If the facility does close that would mean there would be no respite or convalescence in Clifden until the new facility opened. Already the service has been reduced because there is no in-house physiotherapist, which means patients at UHG are not using it as a step-down if they need occupational therapy or physiotherapy.
“It is definitely a loss or a downgrading of service,” he said.
The HSE is funded to have twelve beds this year. In its prime Clifden Hospital had 33 beds. Currently there are just six patients in Clifden Hospital although the HSE at last Friday’s meeting said that would double to twelve in July.
“Overall I was happy with the meeting. The HSE gave no cast-iron assurances that it wouldn’t close but it was a positive and frank discussion. It was one of the more straight-talking meetings I’ve attended. They couldn’t give 100% assurances but they did say they would do their utmost to keep it open. It was good that they visited the hospital,” said Cllr King.
The HSE told the meeting last week that they are having difficulty recruiting staff across the West in many sectors.
In a written response to Cllr King’s ‘grave fears’ that Clifden Hospital would be closed, Ms Crehan Roche said: “Services are provided to meet demand however there must be appropriate staff and associated facilities to provide required services.”
Cllr King welcomed the reopening of a day centre on the same site as the hospital, which now has a second bus, and caters for people right across Connemara including Letterfrack, Cashel, Roundstone and Clifden.
Galway West TD Éamon Ó Cuív (FF) could not attend the meeting.
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.
Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
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
