[nice_guy80]

he'd get more votes in Roscommon than any FG candidate would!!!
I'd say its more tongue in cheek

the whole closing of Roscommon A&E will lead eventually to the closing of the hospital

it has been a campaign of the HSE ever since 2005.
the managers in the HSE have consistantly run down the hospital in terms of staff, equipment, merging budgets with Galway and now closing the A&E.
make the place unsafe by denying it resources, get in HIQUA to say patient care is compromised and then it makes a decision easy

just so some HSE manager based in Galway makes life easier for themselves by moving all the services to Galway

[irishh_bob]

Originally Posted by mikemac

A TD for Roscommon would vote for Ennis to lose its services and the Laois Offaly TD would vote to close Nenagh if it meant saving Portlaoise.
Everyone out for themselves

Limited resources and everyone is scrapping for them, if a national strategy isn't set and stuck with, it's whoever can shout the loudest gets the scarce resources.

parish over country everytime in ireland

[hatrickpatrick]

It should be Feighan who loses his SEAT, not Naughten who loses his place in the party. One of these men lied to the electorate, one did not.

[GerM]

Originally Posted by eagle eye

As I've also said it would even make sense to upgrade Roscommon Hospital given its location and proximity to some of the larger midland towns.

No it doesn't. The decision needs to be made on population base, not geographical location. Roscommon is a sparsely populated area and the larger midland towns are closer and better served by other A&E centres such as Ballinasloe and Tullamore. Longford is probably the one town that would benefit off the top of my head and, as a county, it's even less populated than Roscommon.

[hatrickpatrick]

Why is everyone arguing about the hospital itself? It's irrelevant ot this particular discussion, this thread is about politicians doing what they say rather than misleading us to gain illicit votes.

[eagle eye]

Originally Posted by GerM

No it doesn't. The decision needs to be made on population base, not geographical location. Roscommon is a sparsely populated area and the larger midland towns are closer and better served by other A&E centres such as Ballinasloe and Tullamore. Longford is probably the one town that would benefit off the top of my head and, as a county, it's even less populated than Roscommon.

So you reckon that somebody who pays the same taxes as a person in a City shouldn't have emergency services available to them at close proximity because they just happen to live and work in a less populated area?

[GerM]

Originally Posted by eagle eye

So you reckon that somebody who pays the same taxes as a person in a City shouldn't have emergency services available to them at close proximity because they just happen to live and work in a less populated area?

You can't be serious. Do you think we should have an A&E on the Aran Islands too? It does not make economic sense. It is unrealistic. It is not financially possible.

[leeroybrown]

Originally Posted by eagle eye

So you reckon that somebody who pays the same taxes as a person in a City shouldn't have emergency services available to them at close proximity because they just happen to live and work in a less populated area?

We're getting very wide of the point of the thread now but...

The correct answer to your question is that proper planning and spatial strategies would actually prevent unnecessary and sparse populations in areas that will never sustain proper public services. Instead we'd get uproar if that were to happen and have a country whose planning is based on local political issues and particular land ownerships. This is EXACTLY what's at play in Roscommon - a local hospital for local people!

If you look at a geographic breakdown of public expenditure you'll find that the more populous an area the less is spent per head on providing public services and the better those services happen to be. Imagine if the population of Dublin en masse realised that per head of population they actually get a significantly lower public expenditure than anywhere else...

[eagle eye]

Yes it is a little off point but what do you do when somebody says something like that to you.

I gave a very good reason why Roscommon is perfect for upgrading geographically never mind being kept at its current level. Ballinasloe should not have an A&E, it makes no sense having one there, and Tullamore from Athlone includes a long treacherous stretch of road. Fact is an A&E in Roscommon could cater for Athlone as well as all of Roscommon and Longford Town also. It would mean that people in those two towns are only 20 miles from an A&E and then the people of places like Castlerea, Ballaghadereen and other smaller towns are not left over an hour and a half from emergency care.

When I said geographically I was considering those larger urban areas that do not have an A&E service in their towns which in itself is ridiculous, particulary in the case of Athlone with a population of 18,000 people. Longford has a population of 8,000 people.

So you add that to the estimated 48,000 of the 63,000 population of Roscommon that use the hospital and you have a sizeable population who are in close to emergency services.

[GerM]

Athlone is closer to Ballinasloe than Tullamore and also closer to Ballinasloe than Roscommon. The likes of Ballaghaderreen is almost as close to Castlebar as it is Roscommon town. Castlerea is under an hour from Castlebar also. Places in north Roscommon like Boyle are closer to Sligo. Your estimated numbers are much lower in reality. You can't give every area a full range of services. The population is not there to justify it and there are other options available for a large number of the population that is there.

[Nodin]

...this won't help calm things down.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny is coming in for heavy criticism after a recording taken while on the election trail in February reveals Mr Kenny promising to maintain emergency department services at Roscommon County Hospital.

In the recording taken while on the election campaign last spring, Mr Kenny encouraged the people of Roscommon to vote for local Fine Gael candidates Frank Feighan and Denis Naughten, and promised to maintain the services.

The recording was taken by Niamh Connolly, who is a Political Correspondent with The Sunday Business Post.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/0710/roscommon.html

[eagle eye]

Originally Posted by GerM

Athlone is closer to Ballinasloe than Tullamore and also closer to Ballinasloe than Roscommon. The likes of Ballaghaderreen is almost as close to Castlebar as it is Roscommon town. Castlerea is under an hour from Castlebar also. Places in north Roscommon like Boyle are closer to Sligo. Your estimated numbers are much lower in reality. You can't give every area a full range of services. The population is not there to justify it and there are other options available for a large number of the population that is there.

My contention is that a hospital in Roscommon which is already there could take care of Athlone and Longford, the other towns I mention would also be looked after by Roscommon then too. Ballinasloe having an A&E makes no sense.

The only way you will make it from Castlerea to Castlbar in well under an hour is if you are willing to put everybody's lives at risk. It includes a horrendous stretch of road. Please don't just check distances and come on here guessing about things.

[DJCR]

Originally Posted by eagle eye

Please folks don't respond to those saying that Naughten is a coward. Thats a trick that some people use to turn things into a row about something other than the most important thing here.

The Fine Gael part lied to the electorate of Roscommon/South Leitrim before the election. Its clear that they even fooled one of their own party Mr Denis Naughten.

Just like all the FF party were privy to the bank bailout all of FG knew that this hospital couldn't be saved and neither will alot of others. Only difference is all of FG shouted from the hilltops that they would save everything and anything. The majority of FF said nothing till it happened.