Concerns are mounting that the HSE Service Plan for the West will see numerous vital healthcare services cut, and a local councillor has called for opposition to any such move.
Fianna Fáil city councillor Michael J Crowe has warned that any potential cuts to hospital services in the upcoming HSE Service Plan will be “strongly resisted”.
According to Cllr Crowe, there is a “real danger that acute services” at Galway University Hospital will be “curtailed again in 2014”. He also warned that the delivery of vital cancer services will also be under threat.
“It is obvious from the Budget figures that promises made by Minister Reilly to keep within his budget this year have again failed,” he said, “but our hospitals are at breaking point and any more cuts could have a devastating impact on waiting lists for surgeries, outpatient appointments, and even emergency services.”
Cllr Crowe said that as Galway University Hospital serves the entire west of Ireland, there “cannot be any cuts to funding or services” and he is calling on Minister Reilly to “consider this before the HSE Service Plans are released”.
