St. Lukes set for downgrade?

road_high

I have to say I am pretty worried for the future of St. Lukes Hospital reading this article. It seems we are next to loose our acute hospital services ala Nenagh and Ennis. Down right frightening in my opinion, and ironic given KK's 400 year celebration this year.
http://www.independent.ie/health/latest-news/acute-hospitals-face-downgrade-by-hse-1749791.html

There was a Planning Apllication on last weeks 'People for a new A&E unit at ST. Lukes; won't be much use for that if they are going to ship us all (South Tipp (80,000 people),Wexford (120,000) and Carlow (50,000)) down to WRH (which can't cope at all with the current throughput, let alone all these on top of it). I am so angry actually. This Planning thing is surely an election stunt to keep us quite..

Any of the politicians here have an opinion? Because they had better or we are going to be walked on in my opinion.

Nightwish

Its likely that it will happen. In an ideal world, there is no need for 4 acute hospitals in such a small area, that one would suffice, with the rest being smaller hospitals. However the HSE is going to use the fact that it is broke as an excuse to downgrade the likes of St Lukes, South Tipp and Wexford General before putting in the necessary investment into WRH to cope with the population of the South East.

road_high

I'm not convinced. They'll shut KK and Wexford and invest sfa in WRH. And we will all be worse off.
Whats the bets the likes of Sligo, Letterkenny, Castlebar and all the other west of Ireland lobbyists will get to keep their A&E facilities?

Amnesiac_ie

I agree that there has to be some rationalisation of services. I've worked in the South East and there are a lot of services that are wastefully replicated across the various hospitals. However, I think 24 hour Accident & Emergency should be maintained in all the present sites with protected beds in a centre such as Waterford for transfer of those patients who need to be in a bigger centre.

ChristIsMurph

I was talkin to a nurse last night actually who works in St. Lukes. A&E is going to be scaled back to 9-5. Meaning outside those times you have to go to Waterford. I for one will be doing my utmost to make sure we retain all facilities in St. Lukes. We need healthcare, it's one of our most basic needs, so why shouldn't we get it?!

road_high

9-5 is no good. Emergencies don't happen only during office hours.
You need to challenge this head on Darren, along with your party colleagues.

road_high

I bet anyhting that all those smaller Western towns I mentioned will hold onto 24 hour services while Kilkenny, Carlow and Wex with bigger populations and catchments will be shafted, as per usual

Alzar

mfitzy wrote: »

9-5 is no good. Emergencies don't happen only during office hours.
You need to challenge this head on Darren, along with your party colleagues.

Agreed 100%. Imagine trying to get to Waterford in an emergency situation, crossing the bridge, down the quay & then out the Dunmore road to the hospital...no thanks! The traffic in Waterford can be horrendous at times.

What about the "Golden Hour" that the medical experts say is critical in the likes of heart attack or stroke cases etc. It would take that long to get from KK to Ardkeen at the best of times - even in an ambulance with the lights flashing.

I think there should be cross party support to keep the A&E at St Lukes. Could this happen in the run up to local elections?

Al.

Nightwish

The question is can local politics override decisions taken at national level? Particularly when the Dept of Health & Children pretty much leave the HSE to their own devices.

Alzar

Nightwish wrote: »

The question is can local politics override decisions taken at national level? Particularly when the Dept of Health & Children pretty much leave the HSE to their own devices.

You're spot on there. I doubt very much if local politicians would have any pull at national level.
Then again, if enough people grilled the candidates on the doorstep, at least they would know how the electorate feels & they "may" be able to educate the higher echelons of their respective party.

Surely though, WRH is under enough pressure at the moment & as was posted earlier, could it cope with the extra influx of patients?

Al.

brettmirl

Doesn't St Lukes cover Carlow as well as Kilkenny?

Full list of hospitals in the area here:
http://www.sehb.ie/services/index.html

And more data on St Lukes here:
http://www.hse.ie/eng/HSE_FactFile/County_Information/Kilkenny/St%20Lukes%20General%20Hospital%20Kilkenny/St_Lukes_General_Hospital_Kilkenny.html

From that site:
No. of Emergency Department Presentations in 2007: 33,590

Cabaal

mfitzy wrote: »

I'm not convinced. They'll shut KK and Wexford and invest sfa in WRH. And we will all be worse off.
Whats the bets the likes of Sligo, Letterkenny, Castlebar and all the other west of Ireland lobbyists will get to keep their A&E facilities?

WRH is a joke as it is though and it has hygiene issues which have meant they have banned visitors numerous times in the passed number of years due to outbreaks of bugs

Cabaal

ChristIsMurph wrote: »

I was talkin to a nurse last night actually who works in St. Lukes. A&E is going to be scaled back to 9-5. !

Great I'llmake sure to have an accident during working hours!

Of course I'll need to make sure that anything that happens doesn't happen too early in the morning or late in the evening as I don't want to get caught at the bridge in Waterford at rush hour, or for that matter on the Dunmore road/Ardkeen area.

So provided I can do 80km/hour all the way from where I live I should just about make it to WRH in 1hour....just intime to be inside of that golden hour provided the train isn't running as that'll hold me up for about 5min as it crosses the road...oh and provided there isn't a bridge lift

Bards

Cabaal wrote: »

Great I'llmake sure to have an accident during working hours!

Of course I'll need to make sure that anything that happens doesn't happen too early in the morning or late in the evening as I don't want to get caught at the bridge in Waterford at rush hour, or for that matter on the Dunmore road/Ardkeen area.

So provided I can do 80km/hour all the way from where I live I should just about make it to WRH in 1hour....just intime to be inside of that golden hour provided the train isn't running as that'll hold me up for about 5min as it crosses the road...oh and provided there isn't a bridge lift

The M9 will be in complete between Kilkenny & Waterford by this time next year so 120 Km/H plus New Suir bridge which should mean Kilkenny to Waterford circa 30~40 mins

catbear

my brother was telling me about having to bring one of his lads into A&E in Holland. anyway he expected the long wait etc.... he was in and out in an hour with the X-Ray done and a bandaged young fella. he said why can't we do that here.
i told him high density population and 52% tax gets you that level of care. the face he made when i said 52% income tax.
best of luck to anyone who tries to convince the voter that higher tax means better services.

Cabaal

catbear wrote: »

....i told him high density population and 52% tax gets you that level of care. the face he made when i said 52% income tax.
best of luck to anyone who tries to convince the voter that higher tax means better services.

Agreed, no party will push this

Cabaal

Bards wrote: »

The M9 will be in complete between Kilkenny & Waterford by this time next year so 120 Km/H plus New Suir bridge which should mean Kilkenny to Waterford circa 30~40 mins

Still have Dunmore road and/or the Waterford Outer Ring Road that you can only do 60km on yet its wider and safer then the Kilkenny ORR which you can do 100km on...go figure

Sure I guess 40min is ok though

Blueyez

I think its an absolute outrage.I am working within the HSE myself.I live in kilkenny but have to commute up to Dublin every week as there have been no jobs available due to cut backs and hospitals hands are tied and unable to re employ even though there is a need for nurses.

If it is true that they will scale back in St.Lukes then there is no hope of me ever getting a job here in Kilkenny where i am living and have to face the prospect of commuting forever(which is not possible as it is already taking its toll on me already and my family life) or relocating back to Dublin which is not want we want to do.
So what are the options for the people of Kilkenny and other nearby cities.Why aren't the local politicans fighting for this???.


I am personally furstrated with the appalling goings-on in the HSE,and have seen the effects first hand. And it will take a really serious incident in Acute settings for the government to take notice at which point it will be too late!.The nurses are already getting the back lash and im sick and tired of it,The government are fleecing us.Its a joke!!!
Personally with the amount of money the government are taking off me as a nurse and on top of that my weekly commute and accomodation,im not left with much to pay for my mortgage etc.And i know im not alone.Why do we allow this in our country.......??????

SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE NOW!!!!!!

catbear

Blueyez wrote: »

Why do we allow this in our country.......??????

SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE NOW!!!!!!

i agree. for too long public service funding has grown on the back of property speculation. now that that goose is cooked we need to create more sustainable revenue streams to replace the shortfall. unfortunately i can not see how that can be done without raising taxes. according to this link from cnnbc Ireland is the world most indebted nation...http://www.cnbc.com/id/30308959?slide=1

byhookorbycrook

Several people I know have presented to Lukes, did the wait in those awful bucket seats, to be told,when finally seen..oooh, you need to go to Waterford.
I was in Lukes for a few days last summer and it was absolutely filthy, there was a sweet paper on the floor that was left there until I picked it up after 3 days,someone got sick in the corridor and it was there for 6 hours,the bathrooms were a disgrace. I was hospitalised later in the summer and was in a Bons and the difference in cleanliness was stunning.

franann

I was hospitalised by ambulance on Holy Thursday. I was taken straight to the assessment unit. All tests ,bloods etc done very efficiently, but, I stayed for a week. I found nurses to be brilliant and so overworked, but they still had a friendly smile for us all .The care they gave to older patients was outstanding .how they do it I really don't know
How would they even decide to downgrade St.Lukes now, when they've been singing their praises for some time.
Can you imagine driving from Urlingford, Castlecomer, or northern areas of Co. Carlow.
Its a crazy country

road_high

They don't give a toss about Kilkenny or the health of the people here, clearly. Some clowns up in Dublin take out a map of Ireland and say "oh look, there's Kilkenny and Wexford, sure we'll shut them down, sure isn't Waterford only down the road....."
I believe Portlaoise is also under threat so that option would be limited as well for all north Kk and Carlow.

I am so angry over this. They won't be happy 'til there is nothing actually left in Kilkenny. What will be next

brettmirl

http://www.kilkennypeople.ie/news/No-plans-to-downgrade-St.5327413.jp

TAOISEACH Brian Cowen said there were no plans to downgrade St Luke's Hospital, Kilkenny "at this time" when he visited the city on Tuesday afternoon (yesterday).

He claimed fears expressed last week about the future of the accident and emergency unit at the facility were politically motivated and not based in fact.
He said St Luke's was one of the best acute hospitals in the country but he did not give a commitment as to its future.

catbear

so when the indo printed the origional piece were they quoting directly from HSE plans or were they simply spinning for vested interests?
i hate this bull, cry wolf enough times and taxpayers won't know when there is a real threat.

road_high

"at this time"....there is the most important bit of Cowen's soundbite. Leaves them the option then to change policy next year or even next week.
Notice he did not state categorically that St. Lukes was totally safe. Well done to the 'People for highlighting this.

road_high

I hear they are forming groups and protesting down in Wexford and Clonmel against their respective hospital downgrades...not a dickybird from any of the wonderful politicians in Kilkenny/Carlow :rolleyes:
I see they are implementing a similar paln in the North East where a new A&E is being built/centralised to Drogheda...sound familiar to anyone?; a similar upgrade began recently in Ardkeen so now long now 'til FF give St. Lukes the chop I reckon. Wonder will John McGuinness be applauding this one as well?