Hillery seeks new health forum for Clare

A CLARE Fianna Fáil General Election candidate has called for the establishment of a new health forum to produce the best model of care for acute hospital and community services in the county.
Acknowledging further major cutbacks in health spending will be made, Dr John Hillery has called for a new Clare health forum with rights and responsibility to come up with local solutions to address deficits in the Mid-West.
The former Irish Medical Council president made the call in the run-up to the Fianna Fáil Árd Fheis this weekend where he will chair a workshop on mental health with the CEO of Mental Health Reform in Ireland, Orla Barry and Professor of Psychiatry in Trinity, Jim Lucey.
Dr Hillery hopes the workshop will help devise practical solutions to promote resilience that in turn gives people who may be experiencing depression or mental health difficulties the necessary coping skills to reduce the risk of a extreme reaction dealing with problems.
While cutbacks are inevitable, he recalled the British Government managed to set up the National Health Service (NHS) after a major world war when money was extremely scarce.
Conscious of the need to provide health services in Clare as close as possible to residents, he explained health professionals and front-line staff were best placed to devise local solutions to Government cutbacks in health services in a new Clare health forum.
He is interested in working with colleagues in the Fianna Fáil party and interested parties to produce a health forum proposal, which could be considered by Health Minister James Reilly.
He stressed it would only work if some finance were devolved to the new committee, which would have to have decision making powers.
“The health needs and the required solutions are different for every county. There is a huge difference in demographics and health requirements of counties in the existing HSE Forum West area.
“We need more joined-up thinking between acute and community health services to ensure the patient gets the best service. There is some concern that the separation of acute and community services under primary, continuing and community care (PCCC) isn’t always meeting the needs of the patient.
“We need to examine the patient journey to make sure it is a good one within the confines of existing health resources,” he said.
The existing HSE West Forum, which includes over 40 public representatives from nine counties from Donegal to North Tipperary including Clare, has been criticised as too unwieldly by Clare Councillors Pat Daly and Brian Meaney.
Meanwhile, Dr Hillery believes Fianna Fail must re-establish its identity and set out its core beliefs in addition to changing the structures of the party.
Acknowledging job creation was the main priority for the country, he believes the party should identify building on the strengths of local community to forge a strong national economy.
Asked about calls for Party Leader, Micheál Martin to step down, he believes changing their leader would be counter-productive at this time and noted the grassroots of the party couldn’t be blamed for some of the mistakes made by the Fianna Fáil-led Government during the Celtic Tiger.