News
HSE creaking under weight of cash crisis
There are fears Galway’s creaking health service could deteriorate further this winter as funding dries-up and public hospitals struggle to attract new staff.
The Health Service Executive (HSE) has confirmed that some 82% of its budget for this year for agency staff was used up by the end of May.
The HSE has yet to provide a breakdown of figures for Galway’s public hospitals but there is grave concern locally that University Hospital Galway, Merlin Park and Portiuncula hospitals face a winter of discontent.
“If there is only 18% of agency staff budget left, then that has serious implications for the hospitals in the coming months,” said Fianna Fáil county councillor Mary Hoade.
“Winter is traditionally busier for hospitals, with vomiting bugs and flu and people are sicker in winter. So what it means is that if the HSE has spent 82% of its agency staff budget, then there is a concern that there isn’t going to be enough money to fund the agency staff that is needed in our hospitals for the months between now and Christmas.”
Cllr Hoade, a former County Mayor and a member of the HSE West Regional Health Forum, said that overcrowding on trolleys in Emergency Departments (ED) remained worryingly high in August, which is traditionally a quieter month for health service.
The Headford-based politician fears the situation at the ED at UHG will worsen in the winter months. She said the HSE will have to seek a supplementary budget or else more elective surgeries will be cancelled, waiting lists will worsen and the trolley crisis will continue to impact directly on patient care.
“It’s very worrying that the HSE had used over 80% of its agency budget in the first five months of the year. I believe this highlights the fact that the budget for the health service this year was just not grounded in reality. It could also have a huge impact on services here in Galway and across the country in the winter months.
“I have submitted detailed questions to the HSE to get a better sense of the picture in Galway. There are serious staff shortages and when the Emergency Department in Galway is too crowded it has a major impact on the hospital. I am aware that elective surgeries have had to be postponed simply because the necessary support staff aren’t there.”
The HSE has confirmed to Fianna Fáil that the medical staff portion of its agency budget is the part that is under “the greatest pressure” because premium cost is highest and when it comes to frontline workers, “inability to attract and retain is the key issue”.
Cllr Hoade added: “I have sought clarity from the HSE on how many nurses are coming on stream for Galway and I am keen to learn how many are coming from overseas. There is real concern that the Government’s incentive package to attract new nurses into the country, or attract back nurses that have left, is not good enough to meet competition from other countries.
“There is a lot of work being done by the Department of Health and the HSE at the moment on the health service plan and budget for next year. The needs of University Hospital Galway must not be lost in this process.
“Minister Leo Varadkar needs to ensure that the health budget and the service plan for next year are grounded in reality.”
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
