It’s depressing yet again to be talking about the recession. With Christmas just around the corner, and with our new look Advertiser hitting the shops and houses this week (hope you like it ) we were in an upbeat, jubilant mood here.
But the news of further cuts in the health service brought us quickly back down to earth when you put things in perspective and realise that lives are at risk.
The HSE is an incredible organisation. On the one hand senior management can release internal staff memos outlining the bleak state of the organisation’s finances and how necessary cost saving measures are going to be implemented. But on the other hand when this news becomes public knowledge they tell you there are no cuts.
Luckily for us in Mayo we have public representatives who are not afraid to create waves and let the public know just how their lives are being put at risk.
When health services and education are being affected by budget cuts, we know the country is in a dire situation.
But it infuriates me when people try to cover this up or disguise it with clever language. I saw proof of the cuts being made to the ambulance service in the west region this week. In black and white Ray Bonar, chief ambulance officer for the HSE west region, told staff that the “budgetary position within the ambulance service is in a very poor position”. If it wasn’t for a public representative who brought this information to my attention, I may have accepted at face value the HSE’s press statement which said: “The budgetary allocation for the western region (Galway, Mayo, Roscommon ) ambulance service has not been cut”.
So who’s telling the truth? Was Mr Bonar lying when he said he has a requirement to save €100,000 per month in November and December or when he said he couldn’t over emphasise the drastic financial situation that their service is facing?
Budgetary cuts made by the Government are leaving HSE managers in a no-win situation. Who’s life is worth the most? What department can absorb the cuts? No department I say, health is not a place that should be affected by the downturn in the economy.
While it’s easy for me sitting in my cosy office to make such statements, I can’t unfortunately offer any alternative department which could absorb all the necessary savings the Government need to make. That’s why there are economists employed by the Government to do this thinking for them.
Mayo’s Fine Gael TD John O’Mahony has witnessed first hand the devastation of the ambulance cutbacks. An elderly couple who have been severely traumatised contacted him. The elderly man was admitted to hospital for an important procedure, which was carried out on a trolley, and as if that wasn’t bad enough when it was time for him to go home there was no ambulance available to transport him. He and his wife are now terrified that every time this man has to go to hospital they will be left in a similar situation. Deputy O’Mahony has joined with Castlebar Independent town Councillor Michael Kilcoyne in insisting that front line services are not affected by the Government’s need to curb spending.
Where is it all going to end and how many lives will be lost, misdiagnoses made and services cut before the Government realise life is precious and human beings aren’t to be messed with?
Without our health we can forget about wealth because we won’t be around long enough to spend it.
