Speaking in the Dáil this week regarding the delay of the report on Portlaoise Hospital, compiled under the tutelage of Dr. Susan O’ Reilly I said “The report was to be published in September 2015. We are now in the month of November 2016 and heading for Christmas, yet we still have not seen it.”
In the interim, we’ve had more leaks and spin around the issue. One leak was regarding a recommendation that the emergency services be removed. This is one of the busiest units outside Dublin, busier than Mullingar and Tullamore.
“The absence of full consultant cover is often cited as a reason to downgrade the unit. The strategy of the Department and the HSE seems to be to keep the unit under constant threat of closure, and consultants will not apply as long as this is the case. In that way the Department and the HSE get the outcome they want.
Resources are the issue in Portlaoise. That has always been the case.” Deputy Stanley outlined that this can be changed. “When the staff allocation was granted for the Maternity Unit, there were improvements.
If any of the key services in Portlaoise are closed, there is nowhere to send people. Has the Minister read the important set of proposals issued in the summer by GPs, senior clinical staff at Portlaoise Hospital? These highlight the interdependent nature of the main services and the fact that if the Emergency Department was removed, other services would go with it because they are dependent on having a functioning Emergency Department.
GPs locally say there has not been meaningful consultation with them. Senior HSE managers will come and go but we must be able to see a clear way forward. We need certainty. HSE management might make decisions but the Government is not a bystander. Is it Government policy not to have regional hospitals strategically located? One could not but argue that Portlaoise Hospital is exactly that. The Minister needs to make a policy decision.
Despite the fact that Portlaoise is busier than either Tullamore or Mullingar, its funding is €30m less than that which is provided for Tullamore.
Concluding I pressed the Minister to answer if there “was a timeline?” and if the report “would be [published] before Christmas? It’s time for the HSE, the Department and the Government to tell us what is planned for Portlaoise Hospital.
