Doctors meet to discuss hospital services

Doctors from across the north- east are to attend a special meeting tonight to discuss their concerns about the under-resourcing of hospital services in the region.

In addition to these concerns they are very angry about a range of cost-cutting measures recently drawn up for their area by the Health Service Executive.

GPs and hospital consultants working in Louth, Meath, Cavan and Monaghan have been invited to the meeting, which is due to take place behind closed doors at a hotel in Carrickmacross.

Dr Illona Duffy, a GP in Monaghan who is one of the organisers of the meeting, said doctors in the region had to stand together and make it clear to the HSE that what was happening was unsafe for patients.

She said Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda was being turned into a regional hospital without the appropriate staffing, space or equipment to support it as a hospital providing that level of care.

"It can be made out that this is about power struggling and people wanting to protect their base but it's not, it's about patient care," she said.

A transformation plan for the region was due to result in about 200 extra staff being taken on to make services safer but now there is no funding for them this year.

And a recent internal HSE memo indicated there were plans to cut elective surgery and outpatient clinics, to close beds and to take Monaghan hospital off call this year in a bid to cut costs.

The HSE has insisted none of these cost cutting plans will be finalised until later this month. "We are facing a challenging year and we are exploring how best to deliver services within budget," it said.

It has also said it is committed to improving the safety and quality of patient care in the northeast.

© 2008 The Irish Times

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times