The decision by the HSE to cut the budget for Áras Attracta by some €531,000 will have significant knock on effects for Mayo General Hospital, according to Mayo Fine Gael TD, John O’Mahony.
Deputy O’Mahony raised the issue in the Dáil on Wednesday along with the planned downgrading of the district hospitals in Belmullet, Swinford, and Ballina.
“We have heard the phrase ‘joined up thinking’ a lot in recent years but here is one instance where there doesn’t appear to have been any,” he said. “What will happen if some of the services that are currently being provided are removed from the District Hospitals? The people availing of them will still require them, so the straightforward answer to that is that they will have no option but to go to Mayo General Hospital in Castlebar.
“Mayo General is already operating on a reduced budget and the staff there are stretched to the limit, and the last thing that’s needed there is an increase in patient numbers, particularly when there is no need for it,” he added
