THE Iveragh Peninsula - one of the remotest and most peripheral areas in western Europe - has suffered for years because of the lack of medical facilities.
But last night with the support of the Southern Health Board, the Cahirciveen Community Hospital Development Group announced plans that could radically alter the lives of people in the area.
The winding roads of the peninsula leaving Glenbeigh are no place for road rage. If a farmer's tractor pulls out ahead or a coach tour is in front, then it's a question of biding time. On these roads, signs are not needed to warn motorists not to overtake. Sheer cliffs on the seaward side looking across at Dingle Bay are enough of a deterrent.
Why that should be important tells its own tale. The Iveragh Peninsula has a catchment area of some 8,500 people. But St Anne's District Hospital in Cahirciveen has only one ambulance. The hospital, with over 40 beds, was established in June, 1953, as a replacement for the old fever hospital.
Its main function is to service the immediate area of the town (population less than 2,000), and its hinterland, but it also plays a significant role in treating cases from the adjoining centres of population like Waterville, Valentia Island and Ballinskelligs.
Tralee General Hospital is some 60 miles away from Cahirciveen.
That journey can take 1 1/2 hours in normal conditions - but when the numbers in the peninsula swell to up to 14,000 people in the summer - impossible congestion on the narrow, winding roads can make the journey much longer.
If the ambulance has to make three trips a day, it can be on the road for nine hours out of 24.
St Anne's District Hospital is served by six general practitioners. When a serious road accident occurs, victims have to be taken to one of the GP's surgeries to be "stabilised" as they wait for the lone ambulance to transport them to Tralee or, in more serious cases, to the Cork University Hospital.
The well run and efficient district hospital does not have acute care facilities; it does not have Xray facilities; it does not have surgical facilities, it does not have a much needed back up ambulance service; it needs a casualty room and doctors clinic; a physiotherapy department; day care facilities, respite facilities to support carers; as well as better facilities for the care of pregnant women, infants, and the elderly.
"X ray and emergency treatment facilities in Tralee are up to 60 miles from areas within our region. This distance, combined with the relatively poor road conditions and the availability of only one ambulance, adversely affects the ability of local general practitioners to provide timely and appropriate treatment in the event of accidents and emergencies.
"A well equipped emergency centre will be provided together with X ray equipment. This will be supported by a computerised link to Tralee General Hospital, which will expedite interpretation by the radiologists and facilitate access by our general practitioners to the full range of consultants based in Tralee," the chairman of the development group, Dr Kieran O'Shea, said last night.
Mr Paul O'Donoghue, a member of the group, added: "The total capital cost of upgrading St Anne's Hospital is £350,000. Our group is tonight embarking on a vigorous fund raising campaign. Over the next seven days, every household in the region will be visited and all community organisations and business concerns are being urged to support this initiative.
"The Southern Health Board are confident of securing Government funding for the project. Our immediate target is to raise an initial £100,000 within two months."
The £350,000 being sought to upgrade the hospital would have a profound effect on the lives of people living in the Iveragh Peninsula and, for such an apparently small outlay, would leave a remote community confident that modern medical facilities were at hand. However, despite local enthusiasm for the project, the final say will rest with the Department of Health.
Mr Sean Hurley, chief executive of the SHB, who attended last night's meeting, said the new community hospital would fulfil four roles.
These would include allowing independence to be restored to elderly people who wished to live at home; giving respite to those caring for dependent elderly in the peninsula as well as providing sensitive and sympathetic continuing nursing and terminal care, and providing a local acute care resource.
He went on: "It is important to clearly acknowledge the role that voluntary fund raising has played and continues to play in the functioning and development of the district hospitals.
"The proposed development at Cahirciveen Hospital includes the provision of the most up to date diagnostic equipment which will be supported by the use of state of the art telemetric technology, initially focusing on an X ray service.
"The aim of this element of the project is to bring specialist care to patients in remote areas rather than having to bring patients to central specialised units," Mr Hurley said.