Galway Advertiser 2004/2004_01_15/GA_1501_E1_033.pdf 

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January 15 2004

Galway Advertiser

N E W S 33

Hospice contributions `well down' as impasse continues
BY MARY O'CONNOR Public contributions which are largely responsible for funding the Galway Hospice Homecare service are "way down", a former chairman of the Western Health Board said this week. Calling for a speedy resolution to the impasse which has led to a block on new admissions at the 12-bed Renmore facility for the past eight months, Councillor Mary Hoade said we were now less than four months away from the unit being closed for a year. This was putting "extreme pressure" on the homecare team and on palliative care staff at UCHG - people requiring consultantled specialist in-patient care are being admitted there in the absence of the hospice in-patient service. She told this month's meeting of the WHB that her understanding was that the findings of the independent expert group - established by the hospice board to review medication Forum Ad 2004 (Galway) 12/1/04 6:09 PM procedures at the heart of the row and expected to be released before the end of 2003 - were not ready. Cllr Donal Lyons said there was genuine concern that this "debacle" was going on for so long. "It is important it is resolved without going into another month. We need to have it brought to a final conclusion. We need to get the 11 beds [the 12th is currently occupied by a patient] open. There is a lot of pressure on board members to have it finalised. I would appeal to the CEO - things are on a knife edge at the moment - to give credibility back to the organisation and the WHB and end it all." Cllr Michael Mullins said he supported everything said. He said the closure of the facility had invoked "huge anxiety and anger" that this state-of-the-art facility was lying idle for eight months. "A lot of people could avail of it if it were open. Use your good offices [the CEO's] to bring it to a speedy resolution."
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Former WHB chairman and Roscommon GP, Dr Greg Kelly called for "heads to be knocked together" to end the impasse while Senator Micheal Kitt said it was 10 years ago when city GP Padraig O' Conghaile first lobbied TDs for support to set up this facility. "I hope it [this situation] can be resolved. It is difficult to say much because it is a sensitive issue. If it means people sitting around a table, it should be done." Dr Sheelah Ryan, the CEO of the WHB, said it was disappointing that the expert group's report had not been issued and the health authority was continuing to work with them. Part of the delay was due to the fact that one of the people they needed to interview was abroad. She said a new position of director of nursing at the hospice was filled recently and this would be a hugely welcome addition to the centre. She stated cancer patients continue to receive the services they need but these are not in the correct environment.

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