*Cllr Rita McInerney outside the injury unit at Ennis Hospital. Photograph: Eugene McCafferty.
A HOST of suitable sites have been put forward by Clare County Council to the HSE as potential locations for a new hospital in the county.
To strengthen the case for the construction of a new hospital in Co Clare, the County Council has engaged directly with the HSE property division regarding its list of potential sites.
Director of Service for Planning, Economic, Rural and Community Development with the Council, Jason Murphy stated this week, “Consideration of all sites remains ongoing and is considered sensitive at this stage having regard to landownership arrangements, HSE announcements and commercial sensitivities”.
While he did give an exact number, Murphy said “various sites” have been considered by the planning department “that would have potential to accommodate a range of hospital options should one be required by the HSE in Co Clare. Sites have been considered against a matrix of criteria including access to public transport, access to road infrastructure, water and wastewater infrastructure, brownfield or greenfield nature of the site, known ecological considerations, proximity to residential areas, access to energy sources, distance from other medical centres”.
Correspondence issued to the Council from the HSE acknowledged the “work undertaken” in identifying potential sites. The HSE appealed to the Council to “share all the details of the potential sites that have been identified with us”, stating that the information “will allow us to be informed and move more quickly once decisions have been made and a path forward identified”. Government decisions such as Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill’s (FG) final judgement on the HIQA review “will inform the way forward,” the HSE outlined.
At Monday’s meeting of the County Council, a joint motion called on the Health Minister and the HSE “to outline, as a matter of urgency, the mitigation measures that will be introduced to support healthcare provision for those living in remote and rural parts of the county who continue to experience long ambulance response times and extended travel distances for emergency treatment” while a decision is made on the HIQA review.
Tabled by Cllr Rita McInerney (FF), Cllr Michael Shannon (FF), Cllr Shane Talty (FF), Cllr Joe Killeen (FF), Cllr David Griffin (FF) and Cllr Rachel Hartigan (FF), the proposal also asked the Council to identify two potential sites of approximately 30-40 acres within a twenty to thirty minute travel time of UHL so that Option B of the HIQA review (construction of a new second site in close proximity to UHL under a shared governance and resourcing model) could be built in Clare.
Communities in North and West Clare continue to experience “unacceptable wait times” when it comes to health care, Cllr McInerney stressed. Changes need to be introduced on a short to medium term to improve health services in the county, she added. “We all need that service and in a rural area, we will push for it as much as possible, we will do our part and won’t be found wanting”.
Ennis “has all the fundamental for a hospital,” stressed Cllr Shannon. He added, “We’ll need accommodation for people working in the hospital, we have road infrastructure, we have an abundance of green energy in this county being generated. We are going to have an abundance of energy, an acute hospital of 400-600 beds is required and everyone knows it in the Mid-West”.
Mitigation measures are required “to ensure a good health support system for those living in North and West Clare. We do have this golden hour but Kilbaha is ninety minutes from UHL, Belharbour is one hour and a minute away and Fanore beach is one hour and twenty minutes away,” Cllr Killeen flagged.
Justification for building a new hospital in Clare is clear from the data, Cllr Griffin outlined.
Progressing A&B initially and not prioritising a hospital in Clare was “a real hammer blow,” Cllr Hartigan commented. “It is about seizing opportunity under Option B, Clare must firmly be on the map which is why we’re calling for immediate identification of suitable sites”.
Pain felt by families has led the fight for better medical services, Cllr Tom O’Callaghan (FF) said. “Any family that has gone through a family bereavement because of the hospital it doesn’t go away and that is part of why we are fighting for it.
Everything must be done to strengthen the case of Clare getting a new hospital, Cllr Tommy Guilfoyle (SF) maintained.
Following a HSE briefing with elected members, Cllr Pat Hayes (FF) observed 600 extra beds were needed in the region by 2040. He questioned what is entailed in the cross-party support by Oireachtas members in the region for the HSE’s plan. “Most of us will not be in this Chamber in my view by the time hospital is built,” Fianna Fáil’s longest-serving councillor in Clare remarked.
A short, medium and long-term plan is evident, Cllr Joe Garrihy (FG) observed. “We need to do everything in our power to advance the cause and provide information, research and offer solutions to say we’re doing this. It must be said, we have excellent people working in our health services and have a fantastic hospital in Ennis”.
