An outreach plastic surgery service being provided at Portiuncula Hospital is to be “pulled” due to a lack of clerical support, a local TD has claimed.
Fine Gael deputy Denis Naughten - a former member of the now defunct Western Health Board - describes the removal of the day surgery clinic at the 197-bed Ballinasloe hospital as a “scandal”.
“The plastic surgery service, one of the new outreach services established at the hospital - which takes 24 patients per month off the Galway University Hospital backlog - is to be pulled because it seems there is no-one to type 24 letters a month,” alleges the Roscommon TD.
“The lack of a clerical back-up service to type, on average, one letter per day, is now leading to a situation where people with lumps or bumps - some of which may be cancerous - are to be put on a never ending waiting list. This is a scandal.”
He wonders how can this be allowed happen when the HSE West-commissioned Mott MacDonald report - published during the summer and costing €90,000 - recommended the redeployment of corporate staff to provide such support services.
“It is even more shocking when you consider that the HSE West employs the highest proportion of corporate staff compared to any other HSE region. A total of 813 - or 3.03 per cent - of the 26,000 staff are corporate.
“It is time we had a reality check and that the HSE prioritises the €16 billion it receives for providing the people at the frontline to treat those in need of care, not more managers to massage the media.”
Ballinasloe man Cllr Michael Mullins, a member of the HSE West’s regional health forum, said plastic surgery was an important service for Portiuncula Hospital and there was “space” and “capacity” at the county hospital to provide this.
“We are trying desperately to get as much activity as we can for the hospital and are keen that this whole matter is resolved. I am extremely disappointed that this could jeopardise the provision of a vital service.”
At the time of going to press there was no comment available from the HSE West.
Portiuncula Hospital serves patients from east Galway, Westmeath, north Tipperary, Roscommon and Offaly - and is expected to cater for almost 81,000 people this year.
It provides a comprehensive range of services including acute medical and surgical care, obstetrics, and emergency care. It will treat 10,694 inpatients, 7,338 day cases and 42,497 outpatients this year. Its emergency department operates on a 24 hour basis and will cater for 20,313 cases in 2010.
