Roscommon Hospital is to gain a rehabilitation unit, while there are fears that Portiuncula Hospital’s maternity unit may be under threat, after the hospitals become part of a new group announced by the Minister for Health on Tuesday.
Ballinasloe’s Portiuncula Hospital and Roscommon County Hospital are to become part of a new six-hospital group covering the west and north west.
Outlining the new grouping, Minister James Reilly confirmed plans to locate a rehabilitation centre at Roscommon County Hospital as part of the National Clinical Programme for Rehabilitation.
However, there are fears that the new grouping may have a detrimental effect on the provision of maternity services in Portiuncula Hospital, as there are currently maternity units at five of the six hospitals in the group.
Deputy Denis Naughten said, “There is now a fear with the structure of the new group having five maternity units - and with Portiuncula located on the group’s periphery with motorway links to Galway - that it could be under pressure,” said Deputy Naughten.
“In isolation, I believe that the Ballinasloe hospital would retain its existing first class maternity service, but there is already an agenda within the HSE to see smaller units such as Portiuncula amalgamated with bigger hospitals.”
Minister Reilly unveiled plans on Tuesday to merge the country’s 49 hospitals into six groups, which he says will deliver more consistent standards of care to patients.
The other hospitals in the West/North West group are University Hospital Galway and Merlin Park University Hospital; Sligo Regional Hospital; Letterkenny General Hospital; and Mayo General Hospital. The academic partner for the group is NUI Galway. This group will serve the western seaboard, stretching from Galway to Donegal.
CEO of the Galway and Roscommon University Hospital Group, Bill Maher, welcomed the composition of the group.
“The new hospital group will have autonomy to manage resources, both funding and staffing, in a way that is appropriate to the needs of the patients we treat. We will play to the strengths of each of the hospitals in the new group so that each hospital will develop services of which their locality will be proud.
“The Galway and Roscommon University Hospital Group was one of the first two set up in the country in January 2012. The progress the group made in the first year and a half in terms of improvements in the services provided to patients - reduced Emergency Department waiting times, meeting the inpatient waiting list targets, developing services at Roscommon Hospital - demonstrates the success of establishing hospital groups/trusts as part of a programme of reform of the Irish health system,” he added.
