The History of our Fight for Services Oct-2005 Monaghan County Councillors and the Alliance meet with Chris Lyons, Area Network Manager, in Monaghan Hospital and urge him to put Monaghan back ON SURGICAL CALL' immediately. This is refused as 'being unsafe'. Later this evening Pat Joe Walsh is transferred from Drogheda to Monaghan and is diagnosed with ableeding ulcer. Efoorts are made to get him transferred to Cavan. Drogheda and Beaumont but fail. Pat Joe suffers a horrible death. The Minister promises an 'Independent Enquiry' to report within eight weeks. Sep-2005 The Consultants from cavan and Monaghan make a written request to the Minister and the HSE to put Monaghan back on emergency surgical call before it is too late for a patient and to ease the burden on Cavan and Drogheda, where patients were lying on trolleys waiting foir a bed whuile there were empty beds in Monaghan. Their requests were ignored. Apr-2005 The Theatre staff in Monaghan are put on 9 to 5 Monday to Friday duties, with no permission or insurance cover to work in theatre outside these hours. 2005 The hospital, after at least seventeen deaths, is put back ON CALL for Medical Emergencies only. The Alliance warns that this is still not safe for patients and that further needless deaths will ensue. We also claim that Acute Medicine cannot be safely maintained without emergency surgical services. The Minister, the NEHB and Department keep telling us that we are wrong. Jul-2002 The NEHB puts Monaghan OFF CALL for all emergencies. The Alliance warns that this is unsafe for patients and will lead to needless deaths. All ambulances are instructed to take victims to Cavan or Drogheda or where ever a bed is available. Those attending Monaghan by priovate transport are seen to and admitted and treated. This is leading to confusion. Many klives are saved though as some of the patients would not have reached Cavan or where ever. The HB did not take the necessary steps to provide anaesthetic cover for the hospital and this was the reason that it had to go OFF CALL 2002 Failure on the part of the NEHB to properly manage their staffing numbers at Monaghan Hospital leads to a sitution where the hospital has to be taken off call. To all intents and purposes this closes the hospital to callers on a day to day basis. Since this closure, one patient has passed away on route to hospital to Dundalk Hospital, having suffered a heart attack. Others have suffered the inconvenience of being brought to Cavan General only to find no space and having to be moved back to Drogheda Hospital. As every day goes by another tragedy waits to happen. 2002 Maternity Closed (Temporarily Suspended according to NEHB) Post Mortem Facilities Closed Obstetrics and Gynaecology Services Effectively Closed Minister for Health Michael Martin visits Monaghan and promises that there are no plans for a downgrading of Monaghan General. Addressing the public in the car park of Monaghan General Hospital, he accepts that their have been communication breakdowns leading to a lack of trust between the people and the officials of NEHB. A new manager is promised as are a number of new positions in the Hospital. 1998 1998 and the NEHB announce a _5 million plan to improve services for Monaghan. The blueprint document for the hospital lays out the services needed at the hospital to develop the unit to a high class modern facility and commits funds to do so. The report is unanimously accepted by the NEHB. The future at last seems bright for the hospital. 1994 1994 and 1995 sees ongoing reassurances and developments at the hospital. Endoscopy Unit, High Care Unit and Mobile Dental Unit open in Monaghan. 1996 sees the hospital reaching an agreement that undergraduate medical training programme could take place in Monaghan. 1993 1993 sees the decision by the NEHB to ‘group together’ Monaghan and Cavan Hospitals with a view to extending the level and range and services available to people in the Border Region. The result of this is to create the Cavan Monaghan Hospital. The result is a single entity on two sites. From this moment onwards further seeds are sown of the problems which exist today. 1991 1991 sees the temporary closure of some wards at Monaghan during the summer months and the closure of the hospital laundry. In the following year Monaghan’s Hospital Retention Committee receive a mandate to run a candidate in the General Election, but decline to do so, following reassurances given regarding the future of the hospital, by Minister for Health, Dr. John O’Connell. 1989 1989 sees the opening of the new Cavan Hospital at a cost of _16.3m. Controversy is caused as a Louth representative on the NEHB states that the new hospital in Cavan would not fully open until Monaghan Hospital had closed it’s doors. 1986 In 1986 the hospital appeared to come back under threat as the Minister for Health, Barry Desmond, sought new legislation to allow the Minister the power to close hospitals and individual wards. This did not materialize and the election in 1987 brought a change in government and Monaghan TD Dr. Rory O’Hanlon was appointed as Minister for Health. Within a number of months, Dr. O’Hanlon appeared to point to a brighter future for the hospital with the announcement of a new out patient service for Monaghan. Dec-1984 Further meetings with politicians took place in the intervening months leading up to the landmark Supreme Court ruling in December 1984, stating that Minister for Health, Barry Desmond, did not have the authority to close the maternity or paediatric services at Monaghan General Hospital. 1984 Over the autumn and winter, of this year public meetings were held and funds were raised to launch a court challenge to the decision to close the services at Monaghan. The high court case is set for January of the following year, but is adjourned until May 84. The case is then further adjourned until December of that year and put into the Supreme Court. In the same month, the NEHB signed a contract for the construction of Cavan General Hospital. Sep-1983 In September of that year, 1983, the Minister for Health decided that Monaghan would lose it’s 26 maternity beds and it’s 18 bed childrens ward. Surgical services were to be maintained on a reduced basis. Jun-1983 There is some dispute over the issue, but the battle to retain services at Monaghan General Hospital at the very least dates back to June 1983. That month The Northern Standard, carried the lead headline Hospital For Sale. At this stage Cavan Hospital was still in proposal stage and Monaghan County Council members directed their Health Board Representatives to call for that project to be scaled down. The Minister for Health at the Barry Desmond visited the Hospital, but gave no indication of the governments position regarding the future of the hospital. -000 Sixteen deaths are recorded about whom the question must be asked - would they have survived had they been taken to Monaghan instead of a distant hospital? Our answer - they would have been given a better chance of survival had they been taken to Monaghan. Some of these e.g. Philip Courtney, Benny McCullagh received media coverage but the others never hit the headlines due to requests from family and due to circumstances. -000 All surgery has been removed from Monaghan with a consultant coming over from Cavan each week day to perform minor procedures in Monaghan. Two consultants have been left in Monaghan to administer the Treatment Room but they are not allowed to hold clinics or perform surgery. How long will this continue and what will happen when the weather is poor and the roads in difficult conditions for travelling? The patients of Monaghan will suffer.