Protest as new cancer cases shift from Sligo

THE SCENE outside the main door of Sligo General Hospital was described by onlookers as akin to a wake yesterday as a trickle of cancer survivors arrived to show solidarity with campaigners and staff.

While GPs from the region were  instructed to stop referring new breast cancer cases to the hospital from yesterday, it was business as usual  inside the hospital for consultant surgeon Tim O’Hanrahan,  one of the most vocal critics of the transfer.

The mayor of Sligo, Cllr Jimmy McGarry was one of those keeping vigil outside. He was keen to stress that Dr O’Hanrahan has an estimated 200 patients on his files, including recent referrals as well as those undergoing chemotherapy and regular check-ups. “The unit is still operating and that is a window of opportunity for us,” said the mayor.

Sligo woman Ita McMorrow Leyden said she had showed up to demonstrate support  “because I was diagnosed with breast cancer last January and Sligo General Hospital saved my life”.

She would not have made the journey to University College Hospital Galway for her diagnosis or surgery, she insisted. “I had to go there on March 18th last for radiotherapy and there were not even chairs for those of us who were waiting for treatment  to sit on. We were all standing there waiting,  leaning against the  windows and the walls,” she recalled.

“I am standing here today with tears in my eyes to support our hospital,” said Ms Leyden. “This hospital saved my life, but now they are taking away our lifeline”.

Another former patient, Breedge Cogan Sharkey from Boyle, expressed her “devastation”. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004, seven weeks before her sister, and both believe they owe their lives to the treatment they got in Sligo.

“We are not against centres of excellence. I would travel any distance to get the best treatment but that is what we had here in Sligo,” she said. Ms Sharkey said that the journey from Boyle to Galway would be a nightmare.

“Why force us to make a round trip of 150 miles when we are sick and when we desperately need our families. You can’t heal without family,” said Ms Sharkey.

Officials from Sligo Chamber of Commerce also came to express support for the Save Our Cancer Services group.

“Sligo is in mourning today,” said former chamber president Joe McCann. “We have warned about the downgrading of the hospital for years. From a business as well as a human point of view it is a huge loss, because the first thing any multinational looks for in a town is a good hospital and good schools. But we in Sligo will not stand idly by. The fight will go on.”

Lily McMorrow, one of the founders of the Save Our Cancer Services group passed around a newspaper report about a €230,000 proposal “to dig up the lawn at Leinster House” for a refurbishment job. “What does that tell you about our Government and its priorities,” she said.

In a statement, the group expressed profound shock and sadness at the decision to go ahead with the transfer of diagnostic and surgical services “despite the overwhelming evidence that the unit there provides unparalleled treatment for patients and has outcomes that rank amongst the best in the world”.

The group said that it appeared that the Government had abandoned the people of the northwest.

Irish Nurses’ Organisation representative Ann McGowan said there was  disappointment among staff in the hospital “and a feeling of what is next?”