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The Insider: Will St Luke's lose out to WRH?
WHO do the Health Service Executive (HSE) at national level think they are fooling? They wait until after the local and European elections to suddenly start talking about the downgrading of the A&E services at St Luke's Hospital, Kilkenny, now that the proposed extension to the A&E at Waterford regional Hospital (WRH) has received planning and is awaiting funding of over F20 million to start building work. And word in Waterford is that it will come soon - especially a
To find the truth you must always look at the language in which certain answers to questions are couched. For example, in auctioneering terms if the advert says the property is in need of work, it means it's dilapidated. In the same way, when the HSE says that it wants an overall improvement in A&E facilities and the reconfiguration of the acute hospitals in the south east, then you know it means closure of at least one.
The most damning of all is when you hear the HSE say: "We are launching a comprehensive consultation plan in the south east as regards planning the future delivery of services."
To anybody involved in closures of any kind of facility, the language is ambiguous and without any real direction and can mean only one thing - the downgrading of St Luke's.
So after years of improvements and efficiencies, the hospital, its management, staff, service providers, patients and the general public in Kilkenny are to be thanked by transferring the A&E to Waterford.
When the Kilkenny People and Sean Keane ran this story in May, several local politicians of the FF persuasion claimed it was anti FF and intended to hurt them in the election. Nothing could be further from the truth. The thin skins of some politicians are not worth protecting, but a great hospital with a great name, giving a fantastic service to the region is. If the people of the city and county don't get behind the campaign to save St Luke's then Kilkenny might as well shut down.
In every part of the world it has been proven consistently that smaller centres of health and expertise like St Luke's are better than larger, inefficient hospitals.
Insider is sure that if the A&E services for Carlow-Kilkenny and other areas are transferred to Waterford Regional Hospital, it will result in deaths because the further away you live from an A&E the more likely you are to die prematurely if you have an accident or suffer a heart attack, stroke or other medical emergency. That is a fact produced by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and not the Insider.
So will St Luke's, Kilkenny and Carlow pay the price for the for poor handling of our economy, banks and pubic finances by FF governments over the last decade and does all the great work at St Luke's count for nothing?
Some of the GPs in the area heard unofficially in social gatherings that once the new Waterford to Kilkenny section of the motorway linking Waterford and Dublin was open it would give the HSE the opportunity to implement their rationalisation plan to close St Luke's. That road, from Danesfort to Waterford will open in October-November. Looks like they were right. So unless you have the Taoiseach, Tnaiste or senior member of the cabinet in your corner, you have no chance.
So where does that leave St Luke's? The hospital, which is one of the best run in the country, also received planning for a new A&E last week from Kilkenny County Council. There is no way that both new A&Es in WRH and St Luke’s will go ahead. So which one do you think will get priority? That’s because, according to the HSE it the new A&E at WRH will be able to cater for an extra 90,000 people a year. So where are those extra people going to come from? Kilkenny, of course, and probably Wexford, too.
HSA move to Thomastown - at least someone did well out of it
Everybody knows that the transfer of the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) from Dublin to Thomastown will not happen now. And the small number of staff from the HSA who moved down to temporary accommodation in Kilkenny city will now probably have to go back up to Dublin, resulting in even more job losses in the city.
At least there is some good news. The landowner who sold the land to the State for the HSA building must be having a good laugh now. He could probably buy back the few acres at a bargain price now.
Covering their heads
Why is Ireland the only country in the world where convicted murderers, rapists and other low-lifes are able to hide their faces from cameras on their way out of court and on to the vehicles bringing them to jail?
Can’t understand how they get away with it. There should be some kind of a law brought in to make sure that they have to leave their hands by their side when they are marched in and out of court.
Brian Murphy retires
After many years of distinguished service, Det Gda Brian Murphy has retired. Attached to station in the city, the affable Cork man was involved in a number of successful high profile cases over the years. He won All Ireland senior medals in hurling and football.
US trip by Council
It has been customary for the chairman of Kilkenny county council to go an annual trip to the US for the St Patrick’s day festivities. With the finances of the local authority in such bad shape, Insider doubts if there will be anyone from County Hall going anywhere for a couple of years.
Brilliant service from Council
Did you know that Kilkenny County Council offers a free alert service? The Reports and Notifications Service gives information on the public water supply water outage in your area; public water supply boil water; road closures and flooding alerts. It’s simple to sign up for it. Just log on to the council website to find out more.
Row solved over Council places
The row over who should sit where during meetings of Kilkenny County Council has been resolved amicably. The Fianna Fail grouping took umbrage at being corralled on to the front seats of the council chamber and have now got what they wanted, the seats at the back.
Motorway opening
At least there is some good news for politicians. The Danesfort to Waterford section of the new motorway, linking Waterford and Dublin will open this side of Christmas, which means that Council engineer Joe Gannon and his hardworking team have beaten the deadline set. But who will open the new road?
It could fall to the chairman of Kilkenny County Council, Michael O’Brien, or it might fall to Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey.
Really old
Had to laugh at an American family who visited St Canice’s Cathedral, Kilkenny on Thursday. The family from Jupiter, Florida (not made up) said in the visitors book, comments section “Really old”.
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Weather for Kilkenny
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Light rain
Temperature: 4 C to 6 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 6 C to 8 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: South
