Withdrawal of nursing cover puts lives at risk, doctor warns

THE LIVES of islanders and visitors could be placed in danger following the withdrawal of 24-hour nursing cover on Inis Mór, the largest of the Aran Islands, it has been claimed.

According to island GP Dr Marion Broderick, since the beginning of November, the public health nurse on Inis Mór has been instructed by the Health Service Executive (HSE) not to answer her phone after 5pm on weekdays and not at all on weekends.

In addition, it is alleged that following an incident earlier this week, when the nurse remained with a patient after normal working hours, she was told not to respond to any emergencies on the island.

Due to the unique circumstances and isolation of offshore islands, it has been the policy to pay resident nurses overtime rather than offer time off in lieu for additional time worked. But it has been decided to end this practice on some islands, which means a public health nurse on islands where there is a resident doctor can no longer assist the island doctor when emergencies arise.

Dr Broderick told The Irish Times"lives will be put at risk by this decision".

She said that when it was necessary to evacuate a seriously ill patient to the mainland, they have either been accompanied by the nurse or the doctor. Now, the doctor will have to make a choice between travelling with the patient and leaving the island with no medical cover.

Dr Broderick cares for 800 Inis Mór residents and more than 2,000 visitors during the peak tourist season. “When it comes to health, everything is being dragged backwards. It is wrong to take a system that works and to deconstruct it from the top down,” she said.

There are about 15 helicopter medical evacuations from Inis Mór every year. In addition, about 30 people are evacuated by lifeboat and some 60 patients are taken off the island by specially arranged Aer Arann medevac flights. Until now, either the resident nurse or doctor has travelled with these patients.

Typically, the evacuations involve fractures and head injuries following bicycle accidents, obstetric emergencies, and acute respiratory emergencies. In addition, patients with heart attacks have been treated with the latest clot-busting drugs, which must be given promptly.

However, a spokeswoman for the HSE rejected the suggestion that the island nurse had been told not to respond to emergencies.

“We are not aware of that issue and it would go against the spirit of how we work,” she said, noting the matter is currently being dealt with through an industrial relations process.

The spokeswoman said that on islands where funding for a resident GP and a locum had been put in place, it had been decided to end the practice of resourcing a 24/7 nursing service.