THE HEALTH Service Executive (HSE) West has denied that Galway’s Merlin Park public hospital will close.
“There is absolutely no question of the closure of Merlin Park University Hospital,” Dr David O’Keeffe, HSE West clinical director for acute services and continuing care at Galway and Roscommon hospitals, said.
A consultant who was among about 500 participants in a march over health cuts in Galway at the weekend said the HSE was closing it “by stealth”.
Consultant orthopaedic surgeon Stephen Kearns said elective surgery was not taking place at Merlin Park. He was among several consultants who supported the march from Merlin Park to Galway’s Eyre Square on Saturday.
“There were 17,000 on the streets in Roscommon and Ballinasloe over the threats to their hospitals. People have to realise that the HSE agenda is to erode and cut our services,” he said.
“The HSE have been excellent in burying their cuts in their choice of language.”
Merlin Park provides treatment in orthopaedic surgery, respiratory medicine, rheumatology, anaesthesia, care of the elderly, haemodialysis, nephrology, radiology, orthodontics, podiatry and ambulatory care.
“Rumours are circulating in relation to the closure of the elective orthopaedic service,” the HSE West said in a statement, but planned orthopaedic surgery is “continuing” there this year.
“However, the service has performed above the agreed activity to date,” it said, based on July figures. “Demand on elective health services will always outstrip the supply of services that we are budgeted to provide,” the HSE West said.
“Surgery will continue in Merlin Park University Hospital albeit at a slower rate for the remainder of 2010 to bring the service back to the agreed plan.”
Local politicians dispute the HSE West’s view, pointing to last year’s closure of the west coast’s sole dedicated arthritis treatment unit at Merlin Park as part of budgetary cutbacks.
HSE West forum chairman and Galway city councillor Pádraig Conneely urged people to turn out in the greatest number possible for a protest against health cutbacks organised for September 25th.
In a statement, Galway University Hospitals (GUH) said it had employed a locum consultant on a temporary contract with a speciality in urology to cover the leave of the other four consultants in urology over a two-year period, and to support the rapid access prostate cancer programme.
When the volume of cancer patients increased in response, the locum was placed on a full-time locum temporary contract in February 2010, with an end date of August 2010.
“While the locum consultant was in place he commenced a urology service in paediatric urology, using spare theatre capacity when other consultants were on leave. Paediatric urology services are based in the specialist children’s hospital in Crumlin and GUH is not funded or recognised as a paediatric surgical service. ”
