The chairperson of the HSE West’s regional health forum has blamed University Hospital Galway’s poor rating in the HSE’s latest league tables on the health authority’s year-long delay in appointing a manager there.
Cllr Padraig Conneely claims the “rot” set in after Brigid Howley retired from the position and the west’s flagship public hospital was left without a boss.
The Fine Gael city councillor’s comments came as UHG was rated the worst performing hospital in the country alongside Cork. It was given an unsatisfactory “red” rating in the HealthStat system which measures hospitals’ performances against other hospitals with a view to learning from the top scorers.
The Galway hospital got a poor score for waiting times for tests and operations, delays in calling people for diagnostic tests, and waiting times for consultant clinics. It also fared badly in relation to patients not turning up for clinic appointments.
Cllr Conneely says the fact that the regional hospital continues to be among the worst performing facilities in the country bears out what he has been saying all along.
“This is the third time in a row we got this poor rating. I’ve been saying that for years. It is a black Thursday for UHG, it is in the dunces’ class for the umpteenth time. No progress is being made, it’s just all whitewashing. UHG has the longest outpatient waiting list in the country (29,400 ) with some patients waiting up to four years. This is a terrible indictment of our public health system. Thousands of patients are suffering and in severe pain while waiting for a hospital appointment.
“Last year there were 23,000 people on waiting lists, a number which would fill Pearse Stadium on Connacht Final Day. Would that happen in Angola? If it did we’d be sending out medical teams there. Somebody must shout ‘stop’ to the current shambles that exists in the HSE West. Public health care is a right and the Government has failed in its duty of care to people.”
The former city mayor says the HealthStat report is telling us “nothing new”.
“It is telling us what people like me were saying five years ago. There were 340 patients on trolleys [at UHG] last month. The rot set in after Brigid Howley [then hospital manager] retired and the hospital was left without a manager for 12 months. The HSE is expecting an €80 million reduction in its budget next year. UHG will be the biggest loser because it is the biggest hospital.”
He fears the public is becoming complacent and too willing to put up with an unsatisfactory service.
“There is a feeling that things are bad and that we are not going to get more money [for our hospitals] so we’ve got to make do with what we have. That’s fine in a commercial company but not where health is concerned. It’s not OK for 330 children, outpatients at University Hospital Galway, who have been left in the lurch because a paediatric urologist’s contract has not been renewed. All child paediatric urology patients waiting for surgery or to be seen will now be transferred to Crumlin Children’s Hospital in Dublin. Is it any wonder this hospital gets a red light, a zero rating?”
He is calling on community groups, sporting organisations and parish councils to join forces to protect the health service.
“I’d urge groups such as the GAA, the IFA, and community and parish councils to get involved. This affects us all and we must all face up to reality.”
The cash strapped HSE West announced last week that it was cutting temporary staff’s working hours, reducing abseentism, introducing further seasonal closures of theatres and treating more patients as day cases to reduce costs before the end of the year.
The health authority, which serves nine counties from Limerick to Donegal and a one million population, must cut expenditure by €12 million per month until the end of the year.
