| Running for Cover ........ issued 18-Oct-2005 | reply to |
The race is on as people run for cover to distance themselves from any portion of blame for the death of Mr. Walsh. An Medical person from Northern Ireland has been appointed to investigate. Who is making out the brief and what will it contain. Will he/she have the freedom to investigate the policy and the reason for that policy as part of the investigation.
Minister O'Donaghue stated on Q & A that had the patient gone into any A & E he would have got a bed. Reports seem to suggest that there is a shortage of beds in most hospitals - that is why they have to use trolleys.
Mr. F. Lennon, Consultant Surgeon in Drogheda, is reported as saying that the patient should have been sent back to Drogheda without checking if there was a bed available. Surely there are protocols for transferring patient between hospitals. They were drawn up by the NEHB. It was also when Mr Lennon was medical advisor to the NEHB that he reported as advising that Monaghan should not be allowed carry out Emergency Surgery.
Some are suggesting that if we have more beds in Cavan or Drogheda that such a case will never arise again. They are also not living in the real world.
Facts:
1. Because of the geographical location there will always be a major risk that patients will never make Cavan or Drogheda alive but could survive if they were stabilised in Monaghan first. 'Some one' once put the figure of 5% of emergencies on that number. To avoid that we need emergency surgery in Monaghan.
2. Without emergency surgery we cannot have emergency medicine. This has been agreed by the Medical Advisor to the NEHB. If they remove emergency medicine and emergency surgery from Monaghan then we can be ready for many more like Mr. Walsh.
Tonight some members of the Alliance executive met to prepare for a full meeting on Wednesday night and the mood was ten degrees above boiling. It is difficult to see that being contained on Wednesday night.Back to Top |
| Two Issues .............. issued 18-Oct-2005 | reply to |
We now have two issues to get sorted:
The first and very important issue for everyone is the contradiction between what Monaghan says and what Cavan, and possibly Drogheda, says. The investigation will hopefully sort that one out.
The second is just as important for the future patients of Monaghan - When will the next one happen. Since the death of Pat Joe Walshe it has been reported that there has been two further cases where it was only with great difficulty and just in the nick of time that the Monaghan staff were able to get a bed for acutely ill patients who needed surgery. Perhaps the management should be asked how these problems were overcome?
The fact still remains that emergency surgery must be restored to Monaghan. It has to be acknowledged that emergency medical cannot be sustained without emergency surgery and if the hospital is to have the medical then it must have the surgery - otherwise the staff will be faced with a constant need to transfer patients and we know the difficulties that there are there. However if transfer is the only option we can predict that sooner or later a patient will be so ill that it will be impossible to move them and so they will suffer the same fate as Mr. Walshe; others will die on the way because of the trauma of the transfer; or they will die shortly after arrival in the other hospital due to the delay or the added stress of travelling. One way or another we will have to continue logging the needless deaths. If this happens then the decision makers will bear the responsibility; we have mapped out the future - if they fail to deliver, then on their heads be it and we will certainly point the finger.Back to Top |
| Anger Boiling Over .............. issued 16-Oct-2005 | reply to |
Since the news of the death of Mr. Walshe last Friday and the fact that the HSE maintained that Emergency Surgery would not return to Monaghan, there has been a massive surge of anger among the populace in the county. We have received a huge number of calls to get back on the streets, to get involved in all sorts of militant action and to become political. We hope that none of these will be necessary but we are prepared to do so if there is no action very quickly.
We are members of the HSAG who are supporting our efforts and will back our stance. We are also alligned with national bodies, who are considering political action leading up to the General Election. Our options are open and we are prepared to do what ever is necessary to remove the major risks that exist for the people of Monaghan.
We are also preparing for a Public Enquiry to be held into the Patient Impact and Economic Impact for Monaghan because of the downgrading. The details of this should be announced shortly.
In the meantime we are asking our people to give us a couple of weeks to see what progress we can make as a result of our meeting with the Taoiseach. Back to Top |
| Another Needless Death? ............... issued 15-Oct-2005 | reply to |
Word has come to us that another person has lost his life needlessly in Monaghan due to the withdrawal of services from Monaghan General Hospital.
It appears that a man, who had surgery in Drogheda recently, presented at Monaghan showing signs of a bleeding ulcer. Investigation confirmed this and emergency surgery was needed. However Emergency surgery could not be carried out in Monaghan even though a Consultant Surgeon, Registrars, nurses and the other resources were on hand in the hospital. Hours were spent trying to get another hospital to take the patient for this emergency surgery, meanwhile the he was deteriorating fast and needed many blood transfusions. Eventually in the early hours of the morning he passed away before a bed could be secured. May God Rest his soul.
All this just hours after we met with the HSE NE urging them to put Monaghan back on emergency surgery call immediately. They refused, without giving us any satisfactory explanation and informed us that it would not happened for at least the forseeable future - even though 12 consultants and 25 GPs have requested that the hospital be put back on call immediately but they are being told it is "unsafe". News will come out very soon to show that the alternative they are giving us appears more unsafe.
When we predicted this over the past months we were accused of scare-mongering. Sadly we have been proved right once again but will they listen now?? deaths have not changed their minds in the past, so we would not expect that one more will make any difference.Back to Top |
| Where to from here?.............. issued 15-Oct-2005 | reply to |
The HSE has been asked to furnish a full report on the death of the patient in Monaghan to the National Hospitals Office. This has to be done for a start but we will demand more than that. Their report will be confined by their policy for the hospital but we need to know why such a policy exists and who will take the responsibility for the lack of services to treat this patient. Excuses can be given but this time we will not accept excuses nor the blame being put on the staff of any of the hospitals. We await the outcome.
Meanwhile we had a meeting with the Taoiseach on Friday night. The report of the death was given to us just before that meeting and we had the task of informing him of the situation as we knew it at the time. He was visibly disturbed by the news. We were sick and angry - we had hoped this would never happen but knew it was inevitable if emergency surgery continued to be denied to the hospital. Many occasions over the past two years there has been difficulties for the consultants in Monaghan finding a bed for a patient needing emergency surgery. Some of these secured the bed just in time and that is why we knew that sooner or later it would not happen in time. Even our chairman had to lie drugged in Monaghan for days last summer until a bed could be found so that he could have surgery - surgery, which had previously been available in Monaghan. And unfortunately it is going to happen again unless emergency surgery is returned immediately or will they use this event to remove all surgery from Monaghan? We are confident that the Taoiseach was left with no uncertainty that the people of Monaghan would not stand idly by and allow this to happen. At the meeting he opened a channel of communication with his office and and we will expect that efforts will be made to solve the impasse very soon. We genuinely believe that the Taoiseach will ensure that the lives of the people of Monaghan will not be put at risk.Back to Top |
| Statements ................ issued 10-Oct-2005 | reply to |
Today, Monday October 10th, we read in the papers that Professor Drumm says there is no need for more acute beds in our hospitals. Until alternatives are in place there is little option if problems of lack of beds and superbugs are to be tackled. We are well below the EU average for bed capacity and that must be causing many problems in our system. The Minister agrees with the Professor which is puzzling. After all she has been advocating the increase in bed numbers for months now but she wants these to be supplied by the Private sector. She seems to be saying on one hand that we need beds and then on the other that we have enough. Which does she really mean??
The setting up of Care Groups, which will have a major input to decisions at local level is to be welcomed if it happens. We have heard promises like this before and we have heard of the setting up of fora so that Public Representatives will have a say but nothing has happened. Is this more hot air to keep the plebs quiet?Back to Top |
| Consultation ........ issued 07-Oct-2005 | reply to |
After having had a meeting with some members of the Design team and getting some assurances from them on the methods to be used to continue services while the development work is in progress, we are a little less anxious. However there are still many 'ifs' and 'buts' and 'maybes'. We would welcome continued consultation with the design team and management as to solutions for these problems but it has never been accepted before that we would have a say in the decision making process and that will likely lead to further problems. There is too much secrecy.
This easing of fears regarding the development however has not removed our worries about future services and we will continue to fight for the return of emergency surgery. It was heartening to hear the Chris Lyons has said that he might revisit the Steering Groups recommendations. We will continue to hope for progress.
We are also confident that we will have a meeting with Mr. Ahern when he visits Monaghan on October 14th and we hope to impress upon him the needs of the patients of Monaghan and indeed the needs of staff and we hope that he will take these on board and try to do something about them.Back to Top |
| Bungling Ineptitude?
issued 06-Oct-2005 | reply to |
These are the words that come to mind when one reads and hears of what is going on in the Health Services, and yet all the good work that is being done by so many conscientious people is overlooked. The problems with computer systems is understandable but when it comes to paying out millions to people who do not seem to be solving problems then questions must be asked. Questions like who is hiring these people? who is agreeing to pay such lavish amounts? who is making who accountable for the expenditure? Who is in charge and must take the responsibility?
All through the saga of Monaghan Hospital we have continually complained at the atrocious manner in which projects were moved forward. All through we have asked for communication and consultation. This has been constantly denied to us and with disastrous consequences for some worthy projects. In their own literature the Department and the Health Boards have stated in their strategies that there would be widespread consultation with the communities but that never materialises. Until this is done it will be very difficult to implement many of the reforms that are needed and planned. The latest debacle in Monaghan is proof positive of this. Had the HSE met with the community representatives and explained what they were hoping to do and involve the community in working out plans for the implementation of the work then many of the fears, the anger, the frustration and the distrust would never have arisen. But they didnt and still do not seem to grasp the notion that it is the best way forward. That leaves us even more suspicious of their plans and what they intend doing. We have asked for an urgent meeting with Professor Drumm and with the Taoiseach and they will hopefully see that dialogue is the best way to achieve progress.Back to Top |
| No Plan ..................... issued 06-Oct-2005 | reply to |
| The announcement regarding the development of two wards etc at Monaghan was made on Monday last. There seems to have been an urgency about it and they seemed anxious to get the work started as soon as possible. However the one piece of the jig-saw that was missing was - what would happen when the two wards were closed. Surely they realised that the people (staff and public) would be concerned at this major disruption and the threat of loss of services. It they did realise that then they should have had a plan ready to announce to allay those fears. But there was no plan and we still have not got satisfactory answers to our questions. They 'might be able to do this' or they 'might be able to do that' is not sufficient. We are talking about peoples' lives and they must take this seriously. Their secrecy just adds to our suspicions and their lack of planning makes us have little confidence in what they 'might' try to do. Our experience in the past leads us to be even more suspicious as we have been duped too many times. So it is time they came out openly and talked honestly and invite us to work with them. They are all very happy for voluntary groups to run organisation and raise money for health groups and hospitals but is that just saving money for them to play with computers that do not work properly and to pay out vast sums to consultants, and not the medical kind? They cannot continue to treat us like mushrooms!!Back to Top |
| Unbelievable
. issued 04-Oct-2005 | reply to |
A Design Team has been hard at work over the past months designing the re-development of the Male Medical and the Surgical Ward at Monaghan General Hospital and their plans were announced to medical staff at the hospital today, Monday, October 3rd 2005. When we heard the plan we were dumbfounded and can only describe it as unbelievable.
The two wards in question will be closed for the duration of the reconstruction work, which is expected to last for one year (not counting over-runs etc !!). This means that 52 beds will be taken out of the capacity at a time when the consultants of Cavan and Monaghan are calling for Monaghan to go back on Surgical Call to ease the pressure on Cavan and Drogheda. We ask where will these 52 patients be facilitated and treated? The HSE say that the maximum number of beds will remain on site!! -- leave just one ward operational and the maximum number is about 26. That still does not explain where the other 52 will be treated.
The HSE admits that some services may be moved off site. The hospital will have to go OFF CALL for all emergencies as they could not function with one ward. As well it is obvious that staffing will have to be reduced if there is only one ward, which will mean that emergency services cannot be covered. How many will die while being transported to other hospitals?
They say that the development will provide a better environment for patient care. What kind of patient? We are convinced that the only patients allowed in will be Senior Citizens, who are not sick, -- but then that is what we have predicted all along that Monaghan is destined to become a Nursing Home.
We cannot believe that, when the work is complete, the HSE will be able to recruit doctors, nursing staff etc etc to re-establish the services that will be lost when the work begins. They cannot guarantee that. We also find it difficult to believe that this loss of services is only temporary after all the closure of maternity was only temporary and we now know what that means forever.
Yes, we would be delighted to hear that the HSE had been given the go-ahead for the capital expenditure of 4.4 million on the hospital, but there has been no consultation with the community and from experience we have our own idea of what is going on. This is a marvellous excuse to get the surgery department out of the hospital never to return and since the Medical Advisor to the NEHB has stated in writing that emergency medicine cannot be sustained without emergency surgery there goes our services and it was not the fault of anybody. Why could they not announce the purchase of the Promised Scanner, the ICU or the extension of services? That would not fit in with their plans?
The history of this saga will make interesting reading for future generations.Back to Top |