This article is from page 11 of the 2006-02-28 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 11 JPG
WEST Clare is lending its support to the fight to ensure a 24-hour consultant-led accident and emergency service remains at the Mid Western Regional Hospital Ennis.
A new group, “West Clare Friends of Ennis General Hospital”, emerged from a public meeting on the future of the county hospital last Tuesday.
A spokesperson for the new group told The Clare People , “There is intense anger that the Hanly plan remains Government policy in West Clare.”
He said there was a lot of support for the long running “Ennis General Hospital Development Committee” and more than 20 people had signed up to be part of the new grouping in the West.
The West Clare Friends of Ennis General Hospital will get its first outing at the St Patrick’s Day parade in Kilrush. The group is inviting representative from 20 West Clare parishes to march with them behind their parish banners on March 17 next. Leaflets outlining the group’s concerns are also to be distributed on the day.
In the interim, letters from the West Clare hospital lobby group are to be sent to the Taoiseach, Tánaiste and CEO of the Health Service Executive, Prof Brendan Drumm, voicing West Clare’s concerns at being so far from an A and E, should the services in Ennis be down graded. They will also ask the health trinity of Ahern, Harney and Drumm to sign a letter confirming the status of the hospital.
“We need to know what services will be available in the long term and if we will have a consultant-led A and E in the future,” the spokesperson added.