This article is from page 11 of the 2006-05-23 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 11 JPG
THE Director of the Galway Clinic has claimed that for The Mid Western Regional Hospital Ennis to be a “comprehensive hospital”, it will require more than 100 consultants, including anaesthetists.
Speaking to The Clare People following a three-day Health Conference in Ennis, Mr Jimmy Sheehan, said that for every 100 “very active hospital beds”, 100 consultants were needed.
“You need, not just a huge investment, but huge ongoing resources to provide the comprehensive care now necessary,” he said.
The HSE Capital Programme for 2006 to 2010, which was published this week, includes €22 million for the “rebuild of Ennis General Hospital”.
Two million of that figure is to be spent on the initial part of the project.
The HSE hopes to submit the planning application for the €20.8 million development by June, with a view to putting the works to tender before the end of the current year.
But, Mr Sheehan, who is no stranger to building hospitals, is critical of the bureaucracy that delays the building of public hospitals.
He said that the complete building project for the Galway Clinic took 18 months.
The hospital is now up and running two years. A hospital in Tullamore, which began construction at the same time by the same builder, is still awaiting equipment.
“In the public sector the planning process takes a very different period of time,” said Mr Sheehan.
“In the private sector, you decide the equipment needed and make sure the building is suitable,” he said.
This compares to the public sector where the building is completed and then the equipment sourced. This can often lead to the need for an extension to the new building or its rebuilding before it even opens, he claims.
“There seems to be a totally different frame of mind when paying from the public purse,” he added.
Mr Sheehan also expressed his concerns that Clare people on surgical waiting lists were unaware of their rights under the Treatment Purchase Fund.
Any patient on a waiting list of three months or more can activate immediate treatment in a private hospital through the fund.
“They themselves have to activate it by getting onto the treatment purchase fund, or getting their GP to do so,” he said.
“No one should be waiting without the availability of services,” he added.