Time to accept Sligo unit closure - Senator

Fianna Fáil Senator Geraldine Feeney has said that the breast cancer unit in Sligo General Hospital will close despite a strong campaign to retain and improve the services in Sligo.

The unit will probably close before the end of this year.

In an interview in today's Sligo Champion, Senator Feeney said that the Taoiseach Brian Cowan, his predecessor Bertie Ahern and Cancer Control Director Professor Tom Keane have all confirmed that the unit is to close.

Senator Feeney said it is time to tell the people of Sligo and the northwest that despite their strong campaign and full backing from FF public representatives, they had failed to convince the decision-makers that the breast cancer unit in Sligo should be maintained.

She said that on the day before Bertie Ahern left office one of his senior advisors phoned each of the four Sligo Oireachtas members and told them that the Taoiseach had outlined their concerns to Professor Keane and he had fought their case, but to no avail.

Ms Feeney said that the new Taoiseach supports the plan for the eight centres of excellence as proposed, and he believes they will offer the best treatment for cancer patients.

Senator Feeney said she was disappointed that the campaign had not achieved its aims, but she felt it was necessary to tell people the reality of the situation.

HSE fails to recruit consultant dermatologist

EFFORTS by the HSE to recruit a second consultant to assist crisis-ridden dermatology services in the mid-west have failed.

A spokesman for the HSE said yesterday it had failed to secure a suitably qualified candidate.

“In March, a position of consultant dermatologist was advertised. However, the HR department did not receive any expressions of interest from suitably qualified candidates.”

Dermatology services in the region are now in a state of near collapse with a huge waiting list and no new referrals being accepted.

In a statement last month, the HSE said resources for dermatology in the mid-west had been prioritised.

The sole consultant dermatologist in the region, Dr Bart Ramsay, has said that the service is no longer sustainable due to lack of resources.

The waiting list at the dermatology department in the Mid-Western is 2,269 patients, of which 1,474 will have to wait up to three years for an appointment.

A further 239 patients face a two-year wait, with 198 likely to be accommodated within 18 months.

Dr Ramsay has informed GPs that referrals are closed. In the interest of patient safety, he advised doctors to refer patients elsewhere.

Only urgent cases, such as patients with suspected invasive skin malignancy or acute skin failure, will be facilitated.

Mr Ramsay, appointed to the region seven years ago, said that letters from GPs referring patients outside of those criteria would be returned.

He said: “This is not sustainable from a patient safety and clinical governance perspective. Senior management were provided with two separate independent reports in November 2003 indicating resources needed to be introduced to deliver the dermatology service. These have not been implemented.”

Kenny: Children at serious risk from lack of services

AT-RISK children will die or suffer long-term damage because the social services for them are “hopelessly inadequate”, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny has warned.

Speaking in the Dáil, Mr Kenny accused the Government of “colluding” with the Health Service Executive (HSE) to gloss over the fact that hundreds of at-risk children were not receiving any services.

Mr Kenny said an RTÉ Prime Time programme on the issue on Monday had demonstrated the Government’s failure in the area.

He cited the case of an eight-year-old girl whose uncle kept trying to kiss her and whose stepfather repeatedly showed her pictures of naked women. Social workers have yet to meet the girl and her file remains open.

He cited another case involving a four-year-old whose mother was suicidal. In addition, the mother’s boyfriend was very violent. But the mother failed to show for an appointment with social workers and they were subsequently unable to contact her. The case was closed last December, said Mr Kenny.

He accused Health Minister Mary Harney, her department and the HSE of “hiding behind a mantra” that children at “immediate and serious risk” were seen without delay.

“We know in fact there are hundreds of children who are at risk but who do not receive services simply because they do not fall into the category of ticking those two boxes of immediate and serious,” Mr Kenny said.

Mr Cowen insisted there had been “a lot of progress made”, and that the newly appointed Children’s Minister, Barry Andrews, would be taking up the matter with the HSE today.

The HSE is seeking to recruit an extra 50 social workers to add to the 718 already dedicated to this area, he pointed out.

Mr Cowen said there were 20,000 referrals a year and suggested there was no reason for the delays as this worked out at an average of 30 referrals per case worker.

Both Mr Gilmore and Mr Kenny said it was crucial the state provide services at weekends and out of hours.

Mr Cowen said the Government was keen to put such a service in place but there were problems reaching agreement on the issue with some care services.

Row between psychiatric nurses and HSE comes down to money

AFTER four days of protracted debate in the Labour Relations Commission (LRC), the battle between the HSE and psychiatric nurses last night came down to just one issue — money.

Unfortunately for psychiatric patients nationwide, the battle over the amount of compensation nurses should be entitled to if injured at work looked last night as if it might be insurmountable.

If that is the case, the overtime ban currently in place in mental health facilities nationwide could be ramped up within hours meaning even more services will be curtailed.

The Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA) and SIPTU have secured a number of compromises from the HSE during the talks at the LRC which started last Friday.

In advance, they had claimed the spectrum of injuries covered by the Government’s new compensation scheme was far too narrow. Now they have received assurances it will be expanded.

They have also won their battle to have psychological trauma covered by the scheme and believe the HSE will accede to their demands for historical cases to be taken into account.

However, there has been little success in agreeing sufficient remuneration for those injured at work.

According to the PNA and SIPTU, the levels of money which the HSE had proposed are as low as 12% of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) redress scheme.

“We cannot live with that,” said Des Kavanagh of the PNA. “We will continue to talk. They were always going to start off low.”

As talks were adjourned for the night Mr Kavanagh said they will reconvene this morning.

However, he said there would have to be a deadline for agreement of lunchtime today.

“Delegates are coming to the union’s executive meeting at 2.30pm from all over the country.

“They will have to have before them a final document addressing all parts of our claim.

“In the absence of such a document or if that document is unsatisfactory then the only alternative will be to escalate the action.”

An escalation would mean an end to all coverage by community service nurses in acute facilities and could effectively draw mental health services nationwide to a halt.