Is That Dim Light about to Go Out
Since the recent battle to save Monaghan General Hospital began in 2002 we have heard
every politician claim - 'Monaghan Hospital will not close' though we knew that they
were reducing the services to such a level that it was becoming just 'a clinic' and
could no longer be called 'a hospital'. However with Fine Gael getting into the driving
seat we decided to give them a honeymoon period and then demand action as they had
promised. As time has progressed since then we were becoming worried as other promises
made by them prior to the election were broken or in the process of being broken.
Now today, June 13th, we hear that the plans to save more money includes the total
closure of Monaghan and Louth Hospital. Yes they will claim 'there are no plans to
close the hospital'. Until a month prior to the total downgrading we were told -'there
are no plans to downgrade Monaghan Hospital at this time'. You can be sure that if
it is part of a plan to save money it will be implemented with or without a plan.
Who wants a plan as only the sick will be put at risk and they will not kick up much
of a fuss.
Update Wednesday May 25th
The Health Services being offered to the people of Monaghan, and indeed Cavan, has
seen no improvement during the past week. A daily average of 23 patients (Sick people)
have been lying on trolleys waiting on a bed in Cavan while a daily average of 30
patients have been on trolleys in Drogheda. Many of these are Monaghan people and
we are still calling on the Minister to take immediate action to make Monaghan operational
to reduce the pressure on Cavan and Drogheda.
The Alliance had meetings last week
with Sean Conlon and Heather Humphries. Basically they had no 'good news' for us
but we once again provided them with our 7 point plan and asked them to take it to
the Minister and urge immediate action, which they promised to do. Heather informed
us that a meeting with the Minister would happen in June. Since then she has informed
us that it will happen at 10.30am on June 15th but it is for County Council reps
and Town Council reps. We are not included - surprise surprise!! Even if we were
we have to say that, due to work commitments, we could not be in Dublin for 10.30am
on that date.
In the past week again the number of 'complaints' that has come to us
has increased but it is worth pointing out that they are getting more serious and
getting closer to a real tradegy. One very sick patient claims that he signed himself
out of Cavan after lying on a trolley and sitting on a chair for 24 hours without
seeing a doctor. His condition needed urgent attention, which he had to get elsewhere.
Another
Monaghan patient had a serious complaint and she is now sending in a written complaint
as we feel this event must never happen again and the written complaint might get
proper action to change the system.
There was an ambulance touring about the Carrickroe
area the other day looking for a house. Just hope that it was not an emergency. We
were also informed that a Northern Ireland ambulance was working in the north Monaghan
area on the same day. We have no details on either.
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Dim Light?
There seems to be a dim light in the distance. Dr. Reilly has made a few statements
recently which would indicate that he might be talking some of our talk but we need
him to do the walking.
There has been nothing from the Alliance recently. No we did not go away - we have
had regular meetings. We refrained from saying what we wanted to say and do what
we wanted to do to avoid denting the sensitivities of people who might hold power
after the election. Then with the election over we decided to give the new Government
a honeymoon period in which they would begin to implement the changes which they
promised for Monaghan General Hospital. That honeymoon period is now over. It is
now time for them to deliver.
However about that dim light - there is also a cloud hanging about as the Alliance
has not been able to get a response from the new Minister just as we were unable
to get a response from the old Minister. So the message we are getting is that we
should fade away, as people might give us the kudos, if anything positive happens
for the Hospital. We said it before and we say it again - we do not care who gets
the kudos as long as the hospital gets the required services. We are not in this
for glory and we don’t need votes.
When the Report of the National Acute Medicine Programme became known to us, we issued
a 7 point plan for Monaghan which was:
a. An extension of the Treatment Room functions from 8am to 12 midnight seven days
per week.
b. An extension of the level of treatment available in the Treatment Room, based
on the evidence available since July 2009.
c. That Monaghan General Hospital be designated as a model 2 Hospital under the Acute
Medicine Programme, which will allow for the development of a MAU (Medical Assessment
Unit) and the use of protocol based medical admissions.
d. A review of emergency services in Monaghan and the difficulties being experienced
by patients in times of emergency.
e. An increase in the number and level of surgical procedures being performed in
the hospital.
f. An increase in the use of diagnostic resources in Monaghan.
g. Increase use of Wards in Monaghan as Step-down facilities for patients being discharged
from other hospitals as well as Cavan.
We presented these proposals to the then Taoiseach, Brian Cowen, last October, when
he visited Monaghan. No one in authority has rejected these proposals but more recently
certain TDs are proposing the same things and the Minister has stated that he would
like to see certain things happen and those are similar to what is contained in our
7 point plan. That gives us that little glimmer but we have heard all the talk before
- we want action.
