News
HSE denies ‘secret’ plan to downgrade Portiuncula
Two public hospitals in Ballinasloe and Roscommon will be downgraded by stealth through amalgamation, according to secret internal documents.
The Health Service Executive (HSE) West denies it plans to amalgamate Roscommon and Portiuncula hospitals but Independent Deputy Denis Naughten insists that is exactly what is in the pipeline.
Setanta Communications, the private public relations company retained by HSE West, issued a statement on behalf of the hospitals rejecting Deputy Naughten’s claims.
“There are no plans as claimed by the Deputy to amalgamate Roscommon Hospital and Portiuncula Hospital into one hospital,” it said.
Roscommon and Portiuncula are within the Saolta University Health Care Group, which includes several hospitals in the West of Ireland.
However, Deputy Naughten says Saolta is ‘playing with words’ and effectively it plans to amalgamate services at the two hospitals, which equates to downgrading.
Deputy Naughten says internal briefing documents confirm his fears that the two hospitals will be downgraded through amalgamation.
They will be renamed, and become one hospital, straddled over two sites, with certain services diminished in one or both of the sites, he claims.
“The hospitals group and HSE has a track record of denying things and then when it turns out they are true they are forced to abandon them. They have a track record of denying. I have a track record in relation to Roscommon and Portiuncula and my track record has turned out to be true,” insisted Deputy Naughten, rejecting the hospitals’ assurances.
Commenting on the internal document, Naughten said: “While it may seem from the outside that this proposal is just a way to streamline the co-operation between both hospitals, it must be remembered that the previous amalgamations have led to a planned downgrading of services at Portiuncula and Roscommon Hospitals.
“Firstly, we were told that the establishment of the Galway/Roscommon University Hospital group would protect A&E services at both Roscommon and Portiuncula Hospitals. Instead Roscommon A&E has been closed and Portiuncula A&E is not presently capable of dealing with many time critical emergencies, such as strokes. Then we were told that the new West-Northwest Hospital Group (now Saolta) would strengthen the long term viability of our hospitals, but one of the first actions taken was to draw up a plan to downgrade the maternity service at Portiuncula Hospital. Now we have a secret plan to amalgamate both hospitals, which I believe is worrying.”
He added: “It is now time for the Department of Health and hospital group management to outline exactly what are its plans for both Portiuncula and Roscommon Hospitals, instead of developing plans behind closed doors.
“Is it now the case that posts currently vacant, such as the geriatrician post in Portiuncula, will not now happen because there is a geriatrician at Roscommon Hospital? Will this mean Roscommon be left without new appointments if there is already a similar post in Portiuncula?
“My fear is that the service to patients will fall between two stools and that HIQA will then come in and say that neither the service in Roscommon nor Portiuncula is safe, which will lead to the closure of services at one or both hospitals. This is what we have seen to date with the amalgamation of hospitals into groups and in light of the fact that this is yet another ‘behind closed doors plan’, my fear is that this will just be more of the same.”
In its statement rejecting the TD’s claims, Setanta Communications on behalf of Saolta said: “Over recent years we have enhanced the service integration between these two hospitals with joint clinical appointments.
“We have also enhanced the linkage of both hospitals to Galway University Hospitals. These linkages have real practical benefits for our patients including improving access times, efficient transfer of clinical data and so on. Roscommon and Portiuncula have become more integrated within the Saolta Group as they both and the other hospitals in the Group operate under a single board and management structure.
“As part of the Saolta identity, the hospitals’ names may be developed to emphasise the link to the group’s academic partner, NUI Galway, but local identity will remain the dominant identity.
“There are no plans to downgrade any services in the Emergency Department in Portiuncula Hospital or in any other hospital within the Saolta University Health Care Group.”
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
