Upgraded facilities which will be officially opened at the casualty unit in Longford on January 23rd have been described as "completely insufficient" by a local lobby group.
The Longford Health Services Action Committee is seeking a district hospital for the county, with a resident doctor in a 24-hour accident and emergency service.
The casualty unit, attached to St Joseph's Hospital for elderly patients, will have new waiting facilities and medical rooms as well as additional nursing hours, secretarial support and attendant staff. The developments will cost about £70,000.
"We are very grateful for these little crumbs from the table but it's not enough for the people of Longford," Ms Peggy Nolan, chairwoman of the Longford Health Services Action Committee and UDC member, said.
She said it was a "national scandal" that Longford did not have hospital facilities, almost 15 years after its hospital had closed. The county hospital for Longford is in Mullingar, Co Westmeath, 27 miles away.
Ms Nolan said the Government had promised Longford would have a 20-bed casualty unit with 24-hour emergency cover, seven days a week.
The Longford casualty unit operates between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. from Monday to Friday. Extra nursing hours will now be provided from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. on weekdays and between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. on Fridays. Outside these hours, a doctor is on call.
"The population of Longford is 35,000. It will have doubled over the next five or six years. How will we cope then?" Ms Nolan asked.
She said patients often had to travel to Tullamore if they needed orthopaedic services. "Tullamore Hospital is 43 miles from Longford and there is no public transport."
A spokeswoman for the Midland Health Board, Ms Dymphna Bracken, said the tendency nowadays was to centralise trauma services. She said the orthopaedic department in Tullamore had been asked to consider the possibility of having minor trauma cases followed up locally.
The Longford Health Services Action Committee is holding a public meeting on the issue in the Longford Arms on January 30th at 8.30 p.m.