Tuam in Co Galway may not lose its hospital after all, if comments last week by the Minister for Health and Children, Mr Martin, are anything to go by. The Minister, who was in Galway to open the £25 million first phase development of University College Hospital, Galway (UCHG), expressed optimism about progress on improved health services in Tuam and north Galway, following a recent meeting between the Western Health Board and his Department on the future of the Grove Bon Secours hospital.
The Bon Secours sisters announced last October that they intended to shut the hospital, which had served north Galway and parts of south Mayo for over 50 years.
A local action committee has proposed that the hospital be retained, with Western Health Board support, as a community health facility.
The Minister said last Thursday he was open to suggestions from the Western Health Board and people in the locality, without being tied to any particular building or facility. Discussions were continuing. "I would like to see people coming back to me with an agreed view, and then I will be supportive," he said.
Upgrading of Merlin Park hospital in Galway was one of the main issues raised with the Minister during his day-long tour last week, which began at UCHG - the west coast's largest hospital - and extended to Carraroe. The Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources and Galway West TD, Mr Fahey, has called for renewal of the Merlin Park facilities to serve the city's expanding population on the east side.
Mr Martin confirmed that breast cancer treatment services will be retained at Mayo General Hospital, but said the Government is committed to establishing national centres of excellence for such treatment.
The National Cancer Forum had recommended establishing 13 centres, and the Budget had provided funding for seven, with Galway being one, he said.
"It is going to take time before these centres are established, as in some areas we will be starting from a green-field situation," Mr Martin said. The aim was to provide a "coherent regional response" to breast cancer treatment, he emphasised.