Town Mayor, Cllr. Frankie Keena, who is a member of the Dublin Mid Leinster Hospital Group, has expressed his shock with a response to his question raised at a recent meeting of the regional health forum.
The response to the question which pertained to the condition of diagnostic monitoring and treatment equipment in acute hospitals within the region, to include Tullamore and Mullingar General Hospitals, noted that medical materials to the value of €71m were of a faulty nature and await funding prior to being replaced.
“In the event that the unreliability of the equipment poses a risk to the patient or affects the clinical service then the equipment item is prioritised for replacement funding. As of today, there is €71m worth of faulty equipment within these hospitals awaiting funding before they can be replaced.
“This is a particularly serious scenario noting that the health of patients within these hospitals may be at risk from faulty equipment. To me, it is a matter of essential urgency that this equipment needs to be urgently replaced,” the Town Mayor concluded.
