Reconfiguration not working – Hillery

THE current health service in Clare is outdated and “dangerous for patients,” said a doctor and one of the county’s prospective TDs on Monday night.

Fianna Fáil General Election candidate, Dr John Hillery was heavy in his criticism of the health service in Clare, despite his own party’s involvement in the introduction of ‘reconfiguration’.
“What is being called ‘reconfiguration’ is not reconfiguration as I understand it. Reconfiguration, as I understand it, gives you centres of excellence and peripheral hospitals that can deal with everyday more extreme conditions than can be dealt with by a GP. Yet we are hearing about reconfiguration in the Mid-West for some time now and what we have is a closing down of Ennis hospital, very little investment into primary care and none or very little investment into the Mid-Western hospital in Limerick. I talked to doctors, nurses, other staff and patients and it is not working. The reason it is not working is because it was not built to work. What we have here is not what I would see as a modern-day health service,” Dr Hillery told the audience.
The West Clare doctor claimed Fianna Fáil policy is not being implemented in Clare in terms of reconfiguration and added that he has written to the chief medical officer to ask him to examine what is happening in the county, saying it is “dangerous for patients”.
“The policy was for reconfiguration and centres of excellence and peripheral hospitals and primary care being built up so people could get most of their health support local to home. If they were more ill, they could go to the peripheral smaller hospital and if they were severely ill and needed very specialist care, they could go to the centre of excellence. That is the policy. That is not what the HSE is doing here so we see a disconnect between policy and what is happening and once again we are back to the issue in the HSE where decisions are being made in Dublin or in Naas, rather than locally. I have recently written to the chief medical officer and asked that he take a quick look at this because it is dangerous for patients at the moment. What is happening should stop,” he added.
Reconfiguration cannot necessarily be implemented in its current form, the doctor argued, saying he would like to see “a slightly different approach” for Clare.
“We can’t have a one-size-fits-all. Even though I agree with proper internationally made up reconfiguration, Clare of its shape may not be a place you can have a one size fits all. Counties like Clare need a slightly different approach to reassure people that they will be safe,” he concluded.
Fine Gael Deputy Pat Breen claimed reconfiguration has failed internationally and that morale amongst staff in Limerick and Ennis hospitals is now “at an all-time low”.
“Reconfiguration does not work. It has not worked in any other country. The first thing the HSE needs to do tomorrow morning is to reinstate an anaesthetist at Ennis general hospital, followed by keeping what we have. Enda Kenny has given a commitment that acute medical services will be kept at Ennis general hospital,” Deputy Breen commented.
Green Party councillor Brian Meaney reminded the panel and members of the invited audience that the HSE was set up by Micheál Martin. He described the HSE as a “behemoth” riddled in unaccountability. Councillor Meaney was very critical of the “detrimental effect in relation to the provision of elderly geriatric care at St Joseph’s Hospital in Ennis”.