Sharkey hits out at cancellation of elective surgeries in Dundalk hospital

Cllr Tomás Sharkey

Louth County Councillor Tomás Sharkey has hit out at the decision by the HSE to cancel elective surgery in the Louth County Hospital in Dundalk and has called it “the latest outrage in a dysfunctional health service.”

The Sinn Féin representative said the decision will lead to at least seven operations a day being cancelled, all to cope with the fact there is a shortage of staff in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda.

“The HSE has just announced that it is cancelling elective surgery in Dundalk’s hospital. They have admitted that this is not to free up beds to deal with an overcrowding crisis but simply to address the fact that there is a staffing shortage in the theatre section of Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda.

“This new decision means that a minimum of seven operations a day will be cancelled in Louth County Hospital. Those patients will not have their gallbladder, varecous veins and hernia repair operations carried out. They will be left on a longer than ever waiting list and will probably end up sicker as a result, putting a new burden on the health system. This cut will cost more than it will save.

“A surgeon now has no elective list of patients to operate on and no theatre staff to work with. There is no justification for the waste of that surgeon’s time. Patients are due to receive word that the operation they have been waiting for is cancelled and that news will have a huge impact on them, their morale and family’s plans to provide aftercare.

“This decision is not in response to an overcrowding or trolley crisis. It is down to the fact that there are to enough staff in the Lourdes hospital. The HSE has tried to recruit but cannot attract staff to work in that hospital. Moving theatre staff from Dundalk to Drogheda does not get more operations done – it simply rotates the reduction in service from one place to another.

“Put simply, the HSE and it’s bosses in government are failing on a daily basis to provide a reliable, consistent health service to the people of this region,” said Cllr Sharkey.

Louth voters expect new direction and action on health service costs – Kirk

Seamus Kirk

Louth Fianna Fáil TD Seamus Kirk has said simply swapping out Minister James Reilly for another Fine Gael Minister will not be enough to restore public confidence in the Government’s ability to deliver a safe, reliable, affordable health service.

Responding to ongoing speculation that Minister Reilly will not be Minister for Health following the Cabinet reshuffle, which is expected next week, Deputy Kirk said: “This is not merely about swapping out one Minister for another.  The Government’s agenda on health for the last three years has reduced services and increased costs – we need a new direction in the health service.  Thousands of people in Louth and across the country have been forced to drop their private health insurance because the Government has been driving up the cost, thousands of families have been affected by the removal of discretionary medical cards and the pressure in emergency departments like Our Lady of Lourdes continues to increase while hospital budgets run out of control.

“The main plank of this Government’s agenda in health is Universal Health Insurance (UHI), forcing everyone to take out a private health insurance policy.  UHI is effectively a major tax increase with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform saying the cost of a standard package could be up to €1,600.  People simply cannot afford new charges on this scale.

“For the great many people who cannot afford health insurance or have been forced out of the market and do not qualify for a medical card, these compulsory new charges would be an unacceptable and unaffordable burden. Before the last election Minister Reilly told us that ‘no-one will pay more than they pay now’.  It has become increasingly clear that this is completely untrue.

“The Government needs to look carefully at its plans for the health service.  Voters in Louth and across the country were promised real change and a better quality of care.  Simply swapping out Minister Reilly for a Minister that would be more popular or politically safer for the Government is not the solution.  We need major change in health, investment in frontline and community care and not new, unaffordable charges for the public in Louth and across the country,” said Deputy Kirk