EDITORIAL

ROSCOMMON County Hospital has been in the news big time in recent months as locals protested over plans to downgrade services. The day of reckoning came on August 8, when 24-hour services ended at the hospital’s “urgent care centre”, which had replaced its emergency department just a month earlier.
County Clare residents can understand and empathise with Roscommon people, as the Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Ennis has been at the wrong end of HSE reconfiguration and funding cuts for years. Ending the 24-hour emergency service in Ennis over two years ago is regarded as one of the most damaging blows to the hospital’s status and is still very much a live issue.
Roscommon people feel betrayed as Health Minister Dr James Reilly, in a pre-election letter, committed to establishing Roscommon as a standalone hospital and retaining emergency, surgical, medical and other health services at the hospital and, in the event of the A&E being downgraded, “we are committed to reinstating a 24/7 service, where feasible”.
The Roscommon Hospital Action Committee says the new Government’s policy is to centralise the delivery of health services and this means all emergency services will be transferred from their county hospital to Galway.
The Irish Association for Emergency Medicine has claimed the “urgent care centre” label for the downgraded Roscommon facility is “misleading and potentially dangerous”, given that only minor injuries will be treated there between the hours of 8am and 8pm.
Now, however, there are fears that Clare patients could face further hardships, due to Government efforts to quell anger at what is unfolded in Roscommon.
It has emerged that Clare patients, who previously opted for day services and diagnostic procedures in Galway, could face a 290km round trip to Roscommon if a new proposal is adopted in a HSE reconfiguration of acute hospital services in the West.
In an effort to reduce long waiting times for procedures in Galway, the HSE is planning to use Roscommon hospital as a diagnostic centre for the region, union representatives have been told. North Clare and South Galway patients, in particular, are regularly referred to UCHG and Merlin Park Hospital for procedures such as colonoscopy, endoscopy, radiology and daycare surgery.
All this points to political expediency. Are existing and future Clare patients to suffer so that Dr Reilly can offer something by way of compensation to Roscommon for the loss of 24-hour emergency cover?
Clare has no quarrel with Roscommon on the issue but unfortunately, a HSE decision could lead to tensions between two hospitals that have common cause in trying to safeguard their futures.
HSE West Forum member, Councillor Brian Meaney has warned it would be an act of “certified lunacy” if any Clare patient was asked to travel a round trip of 290km for diagnostic or daycare procedures.
Our Clare Oireachtas team and Ennis hospital supporters will have to be fast off the mark to ensure this does not happen.

A beacon for tourism

LOOP Head Lighthouse has emerged as one of the great success stories of Clare tourism in 2011. New on the county’s tourism itinerary, it has brought a welcome wave of visitors to an area of spectacular natural beauty that offers plenty more to do and see but yet has been overshadowed by other locations.
The lighthouse, which overlooks the Shannon Estuary and the Atlantic Ocean, was opened to the public for the first time in its 341-year history on July 18 last and there has been a constant flow of visitors ever since.
Everybody is talking about it and it has been added to the must-see list. Now there’s a bit of extra time to make the journey back to Loop Head, as Clare County Council has decided to extend the visitor access every day until October 3.
Despite its late entry into this year’s tourism market, figures released by the council show that in the five weeks since it opened, over 12,000 visitors have enjoyed a tour of the 23m-high building, which was built in 1854. The first lighthouse on the site, one of four known Irish stone-vaulted cottage-type lights, was built about 1670.
In January 1991, the lighthouse was converted to automatic operation and today is in the care of an attendant and is also monitored by the Commissioners of Irish Lights from a base in Dún Laoghaire.
The Loop Head Lighthouse experience is something that has sparked the imagination and its early success indicates that it has great potential as a focal point for tourism on the peninsula. Apart from the numbers in respect of the lighthouse, businesses in Kilkee and along the peninsula have enjoyed a much-needed fillip as visitors make other stops along the way.
A test of the drawing power of the lighthouse will come with the extension of its opening into the critical shoulder period of the tourism season. The promoters are hoping to enjoy a spin-off from a number of festivals in West Clare in September.
According to Gerard Dollard, director of services with Clare County Council, the trial opening has generated a number of ideas regarding the future tourist product in the area.
“We propose to review the success of the initiative in early October and, together with Loop Head Tourism and Shannon Development, develop a wider tourist offering for 2012 and future years,” he said.
All those involved in putting Loop Head Lighthouse on the tourism map deserve much credit for their input. It’s a great example of a local community forging a successful partnership with statutory authorities.