McNamara claims HSE is ‘out of control’

THERE has been no reprieve for families in East Clare who were hoping five respite beds at Raheen Community Hospital would be re-opened following stinging criticism of the Health Service Executive (HSE).
At a meeting in Raheen Community Hospital on Thursday, local councillors and Dáil deputies were told by a local HSE manager the beds have to close due to the lack of finance for recruiting agency staff and paying overtime.
The meeting was attended by Clare Labour Deputy Michael McNamara less than 24 hours after he unleashed a blistering attack on the HSE in the Dáil over the way in which the beds were cut from Raheen.
Deputy Timmy Dooley, Mayor of Clare, Councillor Pat Hayes, Councillor Joe Cooney and representatives of the hospital support group also attended.
Councillor Cooney told The Clare Champion nine nurses in Raheen have taken voluntary redundancies over the last two years and another two are on leave, yet they couldn’t be replaced.
The Fine Gael Councillor said public representatives were informed by HSE management the beds have to be cut for health and safety reasons because of staffing issues arising out of severe cutbacks.
In a wide-ranging broadside against the HSE, Deputy McNamara stated in the Dáil he regretted that the HSE remained a bureaucracy, which is completely “out of control and utterly unaccountable to democratically elected representatives at all levels”.
The Labour Deputy praised Health Minister, Dr James Reilly’s decision to disband the entire HSE board and appoint a new one. However, he claimed this signal clearly has not permeated down to the HSE representatives in the Mid-West region, as borne out by recent developments in Clare and particularly at Raheen hospital.
On Saturday, September 10, he claimed staff at Raheen hospital were informed by email that the number of respite beds would be reduced from 28 to 23.
“There was no discussion in advance and no inquiries about the impact this might have on care. Furthermore, they were informed that this would take effect from the following Monday morning. Patients who thought they would have a bed on Monday morning learned that morning this was not the case. This is completely unacceptable.
“As somebody who lives near Raheen hospital, I was aware there were difficulties there from staff. I made numerous enquiries to the HSE but I got no information.
“This is not about me; it displays a contempt for the people who voted for me and for those who voted for Deputies Carey, Dooley and Breen in Clare because they also made enquiries and similarly received no information, as did local councillors, yet the HSE persists in the circus of organising meetings and bringing in all the elected representatives to their lovely boardroom in Limerick where they ply us with generalities but give us no specific information,” he stated.
“The HSE was set up by the last Government and it has ballooned into a bureaucracy. It now falls upon this Government to deal with it and I urge the minister to do so. Furthermore, the HSE was set up to provide health care led by professionals rather than by politicians. This is simply not the case. Professionals are not being listened to in the HSE. Instead, it is being run by bureaucrats who display nothing but contempt for this House, the people who sit in it and local government,” he added.
Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Kathleen Lynch told the Dáil Raheen could accommodate 14 long-term residents, with 12 places allocated as short-term care or assessment beds and two places dedicated to palliative care.
Having incurred a budget overrun of €20m at the end of last June, Deputy Lynch explained the HSE had to reduce its use of agency staff and overtime, which forced the agency to cut 65 mainly short-stay beds in the region, of which 23 are currently vacant.
A reduction of nine beds had originally been envisaged in Raheen. However, through a successful redeployment of nursing staff, this figure was reduced to five beds. According to Deputy Lynch, the reduction will be managed with minimum disruption to residents.
Deputy McNamara claimed that while Raheen is a few nurses short of the number required to deal safely with the 23 beds that remain, other facilities remain over-staffed, yet the HSE doesn’t seem to be able to move nurses from one hospital to another.
“The only information I received about Raheen hospital was a message on my voicemail to say that a press release would be going out that night but the contents could not be shared with me. I cannot think of a greater example of contempt – not for me but for the people who vote for me or bother to vote at all.
“I call upon the Minister of State to address this issue. I for one have lost confidence in the ability of the HSE to manage our hospitals.
“I note the Programme for Government provides that the ownership and management of hospitals will be transferred to boards whose members are selected from among local people with an interest in and genuine commitment to the area.
“It seems the bureaucrats of the HSE do not have a commitment to anything other than pushing pens,” he said.
Stating his frustration is shared by all Clare deputies, he urged the minister to move ahead as speedily as possible with the transfer of the running of hospitals from the HSE to boards, as provided for in the Programme for Government.