The possibility of withdrawing orthopaedic services from St Mary's Hospital has been criticised by local councillors. A senior medical consultant is currently completing a feasibility study to examine how the orthopaedic services at the hospital can be transferred to CUH.

This move was slammed by Cllrs at last Monday's sitting of Cork City Council. Socialist Party Cllr Mick Barry put forward a motion opposing the move and asking the HSE expand these services at the Gurranabraher hospital. He referred to a meeting between the HSE and local TDs last week where it was revealed that no jobs would be lost in the possible relocation of the services.

"The results of the meeting last week are not good enough, the problem of the jobs is only one of the main issues. There was a lot of spin after that meeting with Noel O'Flynn saying everything was rosy. The key issue is the stripping of the services at St Mary's hospital What will be left will only be a shell of a hospital. We need to keep the orthopaedic services there. It will be a real blow to the north side of the city. Staff have been told that it will take 28 days to do this feasibility study so we will know more after that." Cllr Thomas Gould said he was opposed to relocating the orthopaedic services to the CUH.

"I disagree with what is happening to the people of Gurranabraher and the North side. Will there be anything left of the North side when this Government is finished? The TSB bank is closing, the orthopaedic hospital is losing its services, what next?"

Cllr Terry Shannon disagreed, saying that if a procedure taking place at the hospital went wrong then there was no emergency unit to deal with that. "It makes better sense to have emergency services on site at the CUH. Some people may have a drive a bit further," he said. The matter will be debated at the next sitting of Cork City Council.

Comments (0) »

Show/Hide comment form

Name

Email

Title

Comment

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment