THE HEALTH Service Executive (HSE) has a “hidden agenda” in closing the residential section of Wicklow District Hospital, according to the organisers of a protest rally to be held today.
Mandie Delahunt, spokeswoman for the Save Wicklow Hospital campaign, claimed the move was a way of cutting back on care services in the region and that the closure would be a “death sentence” for the facility’s 20 long-stay elderly patients.
On Thursday, a HSE spokeswoman announced the unit would close due to “significant physical infrastructural concerns”, following a fire audit of the building, and denied the move was connected to a reconfiguration of services.
The patients at the Wicklow hospital are to be transferred to St Colman’s Hospital in Rathdrum.
Ms Delahunt pointed out the Orchard Nursing Home in Bray had also been closed last year following a fire safety audit, and she called for an independent surveyor to provide an assessment.
“The hazards they have cited, such as tiles falling off the kitchen wall and doors not being wide enough, are fixable,” she said.
“If it’s fundraising that’s needed to get this hospital back up and running, we’ll do it,”she added.
Labour Party TD Liz McManus said the move was “outrageous”, and she called on the HSE to withdraw the decision and to carry out work to bring the building up to standard. Last Saturday, several thousand people gathered in Wicklow town to protest against any move to downgrade or close the unit. Another demonstration is planned today on Wicklow’s Ball Alley at 2.30pm.