All inpatient surgery services in the Roscommon/East Galway area will in future be carried out at Portiuncula hospital in Ballinasloe under reform proposals put forward yesterday by the Health Service Executive (HSE).
The HSE said the existing surgical units at Portiuncula and Roscommon county hospitals would be merged into one joint department. There will also be an expanded joint anaesthesia department to serve both hospitals.
The HSE said it was envisaged that Roscommon would specialise in day-case surgery in future. It also said a final decision had not been taken on whether emergency surgery would be carried out at Roscommon.
HSE network manager for West/North West Hospital Alan Moran said there would be a surgeon available for patients on a 24-hour basis at Roscommon hospital. However, no decision had been taken on whether actual emergency procedures would be carried out there.
"Arrangements will be put in place to ensure that medical and A&E patients in Roscommon have appropriate access to emergency surgical and anaesthetic services, both in Roscommon County Hospital and at Portiuncula", the HSE said in a statement.
An additional consultant will be appointed to the new joint surgical department in additional to the existing four surgeons.
The HSE said medical services at Roscommon would be strengthened with the appointment of an additional consultant physician with a special interest in acute medical assessment.
A new CT scanner is also to be provided at Roscommon.
A new consultant in emergency medicine will be appointed to develop A&E services in both hospitals. Currently the A&E departments at Portiuncula and Roscommon are served by visiting consultants from Galway on a part-time basis.
Mr Moran said he wanted to reassure the people of Roscommon that there would not be a reduction in services available in their local hospital.
The reform proposals, announced yesterday, came on foot of a review of services in the region carried out by the HSE over recent months. "This review is an unprecedented opportunity to develop a very high quality responsive service that meets the needs of the local community and is based on the best models of healthcare provided by small hospitals of this type. The HSE is committed to today's proposals which will be positive for both Roscommon and Portiuncula hospitals, ensuring that their future role is clear, secure, and properly resourced", Mr Moran said.
However, Fine Gael last night said the plan represented the downgrading of services at Roscommon hospital and the introduction of the controversial Hanly Report proposals by the back door. "The HSE has provided very little detail on how two departments in two hospitals situated over 30 miles apart are going to work as a team. However, withdrawing inpatient or major surgery procedures from the County Hospital Roscommon will take away a skills base which will have major implications across all departments in the hospital," the party's frontbench spokesman Denis Naughten said.
