Merlin Pk Hospital

sgthighway

Anybody hear any big news on Merlin Pk Hospital this morning?

Care to elaborate?

mikom

Heard the old folks are getting mashed parsnips instead of mashed carrots for dinner today.

mikom

mikom wrote: »

Heard the old folks are getting mashed parsnips instead of mashed carrots for dinner today.

So jealous

gaeilgegrinds1

Indeed. I'd say it'll be on the news tonight. Hardly surprising.

PopeBuckfastXVI

Share the news, share the source, plz!

LadyMayBelle

Anyone care to share??

Seemingly they renamed the Merlin Park Hospital to the Merlin Pk Hospital.

dessierb

yea its going to be closed...... Transfer of all services to UCHG.. More CUTS.........................What next

amiable

mikom wrote: »

Heard the old folks are getting mashed parsnips instead of mashed carrots for dinner today.

that's only a wild rumour and i'll ask you to retract it

biko

I heard the new nurses are going to run naked through ward C later today, only a rumour though.
Did anyone hear anything atall atall?

*Pulls up chair and puts kettle on*

dessierb

amiable wrote: »

that's only a wild rumour and i'll ask you to retract it

And your sources are?? to make that statement. I only post facts.

biko

biko wrote: »

I heard the new nurses are going to run naked through ward C later today, only a rumour though.
Did anyone hear anything atall atall?

*Pulls up chair and puts kettle on*

Hope to christ that's not the cardiac ward. That'd cause some awful troubles!

NuMarvel

brokenlaptop wrote: »

Seemingly they renamed the Merlin Park Hospital to the Merlin Pk Hospital.

Merlin Pk University Hospital, thank you very much.

the keen edge

brokenlaptop wrote: »

Hope to christ that's not the cardiac ward. That'd cause some awful troubles!

Really?

I heard it was planned to go through the erectile dysfunction ward.

the keen edge

amiable wrote: »

that's only a wild rumour and i'll ask you to retract it

No its true I'am afraid.
They'll complain at first and then eat it.

What I'd like to know is who told them about the change?. If we told them it was carrot and not parsnip then there'd be no hassle, old people will believe what we tell them to believe, after first complaining about it.

skelliser

They couldnt be thinking of closing it! Shocking if they did, if anything merlin park helps releive some of the backlog UCHG is under.

mikom

feelingstressed wrote: »

I used to go jogging around the grounds.

It's so depressing, the place is like Chernobyl

Should have kept it up................. you'd have three legs by now.

ronnie3585

I heard it Merlin Parked everything

the keen edge

mikom wrote: »

Should have kept it up................. you'd have three legs by now.

By three legs you mean bigger penis, right?

--<<Puts pair Nike air's in gear bag and heads towards the eastside>--

sgthighway

Staff were told this morning that some units are closing down. Its not looking good for any temporary staff up there. I am suprised it was not on the 1 o'clock news.

mikom

sgthighway wrote: »

I am suprised it was not on the 1 o'clock news.

Saving room in the bulletin for news about 5 call centre jobs proposed for Mohill.

Maja

feelingstressed wrote: »

I used to go jogging around the grounds.

It's so depressing, the place is like Chernobyl

-agree :rolleyes:

HardyEustace

Maja wrote: »

-agree :rolleyes:

The grounds are lovely though.

Asmodean

Agree that the grounds are really nice. Used to live in Doughiska and I'd take a shortcut off the Hospital avenue and cut through Merlin woods.
I broke my leg about 3 years ago back home in Waterford but I had to get all the aftercare out in Merlin Park. I'll admit I was very sceptical of the place when I first went in there but in my honest opinion the service I received far outweighed the physical look of the place. I found the staff there nothing but competent. Could do with more than a lick of paint though I'll admit!

_Whimsical_

HardyEustace wrote: »

The grounds are lovely though.

Yeah it is beautiful really. I wonder what they'd plan to do with the campus up there if they did close the hospital. A few years ago they'd probably have made a fortune selling it for housing estate land or grounds for a hotel. It really isn't a time to sell some place like it now though I'd have thought.

Pity they let the inside of it go down the tubes. Stepping through the front door is like entering a portal to the bleakest times of the 1950s.

gerkeo

Am i correct in saying the HSE / Western Health Board were donated the grounds on the condition that it is only to be used as a place of healing?

This would rule out them selling the land for development.

skelliser

Dunno about that. Merlin park was originally built as an isolation hospital to house people suffering from tb. Hence why all the units are spaced out, it has/had its own power station and the size of the grounds.

Maja

HardyEustace wrote: »

The grounds are lovely though.

agree :rolleyes: (but buildings are not )

Storm 10

Just heard Padraig Connelly on Galway Bay News saying that it is true that Merlin Park Hospital will close .

Jez as if things are not bad enough in the health service.

?Cee?view

gerkeo wrote: »

Am i correct in saying the HSE / Western Health Board were donated the grounds on the condition that it is only to be used as a place of healing?

This would rule out them selling the land for development.

Yep, that's apparently true. It was donated by the widow (I think) of Captain Waithman whose family also owned Declan Ganley's house at one stage. I think there's a condition in the bequest that the land was to be used as you describe. There was a proposal a few years ago to develop part of the land when the whole issue was raised.

HardyEustace

Storm 10 wrote: »

Just heard Padraig Connelly on Galway Bay News saying that it is true that Merlin Park Hospital will close .

Jez as if things are not bad enough in the health service.

It must be only bits of it though? There's a brand new building being constructed at the back of the grounds.

Or is that the new Western Alzeimhers building that you see the sign up for on the Dublin road?

I hope it doesn't get sold off. It provides some well needed green space for Doughiska/Roscam residents.

Carolyyn

HardyEustace wrote: »

It must be only bits of it though? There's a brand new building being constructed at the back of the grounds.

Or is that the new Western Alzeimhers building that you see the sign up for on the Dublin road?

I hope it doesn't get sold off. It provides some well needed green space for Doughiska/Roscam residents.

Yes that new building is for Western Alzeimhers, its a lovely design btw.

I live just behind the hospital and it's great to be able to take a short cut for a cycle or walk through the grounds (or in the car when the gates open morning and evening). There's also a lovely little chapel in the grounds. Seems nothing is sacred from govt. cuts, and more cuts

http://www.galwaynews.ie/13839-medics-told-plan-shut-down-merlin-park-hospital
All but geriatrics and dialysis to be closed it seems.

gaeilgegrinds1

It's unit 1 and unit 4, lots of jobs being transferred to UHG though. It's a bummer really as most in that field seemed to speak in the past years/months as though they felt Merlin was not being fully utilised and could be used to alleviate the backlog in UHG even more.

Mr. Presentable

"the HSE is considering proposals to close ...."

Nothing is decided. It is being "considered".

gaeilgegrinds1

Well plans are underway in UHG to accomadate them. That's how I heard about 8. Eight consultants moving over. Fair enough it may not be written in stone but anyone who's in UHG who knew say the writing is on the wall.

Captain Darling

the keen edge wrote: »

Really?

I heard it was planned to go through the erectile dysfunction ward.

The crowd in there arent so hard up i heard.

skelliser

nipplenuts wrote: »

"the HSE is considering proposals to close ...."

Nothing is decided. It is being "considered".

Thats spin for testing the public opinion. If there isnt much public outrage they will go ahead with it.

nerophis

Nicely timed so that Harney doesn't have to get a grilling in the Dail about it. She'll be answering questions from Florida

Xiney

Anyone else getting the feeling they need to get out of this country before they get sick?

Fistycuffs

I really hope that Galway will rise to something other than the typical laid back taking it in our stride attitude.

As far as Im aware one of the units to be closed is the stroke treatment unit. If you have a stroke being treated in a dedicated unit with specialized staff is the difference between life and death for some people and the difference between life long disability and full recovery for many others. As this is the only such unit in the west of Ireland it would be a tragedy if it were to close.

I don't know how UCHG is expected to absorb the extra patients seemlessly. The place is already bursting. Even the car park cannot handle anymore action at this stage.*

It's so depressing that this has been cynically slipped in the day the Dail disappear for the summer holidays . There are lots of questions that need to be answered on this one or we may all suffer the consequences

swe_fi

Xiney wrote: »

Anyone else getting the feeling they need to get out of this country before they get sick?

Of course. I'd be gone home in a flash if i got seriously sick. This is also the general opinion amongst my non-irish friends.

What I think you'll see more and more of is "hospital tourism", well it is already happening. I am genuinely surprised Michael O'Leary hasn't started the division "Ryancare" yet.

Someone said Chernobyl about this place, I thought exactly the same. I was walking through the grounds there when I was living in Doughiska and then someone told me it was a hospital! Shocked!

I also had to go there in a professional capacity like a year ago to look at something and the place is ancient.

mikemac

Ah that was me with the Chernobyl comment, the buildings look like they were built when Ireland was in deep depression, and possibly they were! So run down these days.
With investment it could take the pressure off UCHG, it has a good location and easy access after all

Merlin Park was originally used to treat people with TB when that was the main killer in Ireland.
So this is why it has huge grounds but buildings are so spaced out.

Great place for a walk or jog.
You can go through the forest and look around Merlin Park Castle too.
Though it's all gated and boarded up but worth a look anyway.
It's at the back of Hillside, you can walk through there to get to Castlepark

?Cee?view

Someone mentioned above that 8 consultants are effected by the proposed move.

Be interesting to know what side of town they live on

Mrs OBumble

swe_fi wrote: »

Of course. I'd be gone home in a flash if i got seriously sick. This is also the general opinion amongst my non-irish friends.

+ 1 to that. I've even maintained my health insurance there (even though it's the other side of the world!), because of the likely implications of "excluding pre-existing conditons" for the first five years of any cover here.

That said, I'm not convinced that closing Merlin Park is a bad idea. We (taxpayers) are currently paying for two sets of buildings, cleaning, security etc - and for some staff to spend time travelling between them. Frankly a city this size just doesn't need two hospital campuses, and having to transport patients between the sites for things must be a real barrier to giving them good care.

When I look at the Newcastle site (which goes right back to Seamus Quirke Rd), I see a lot of empty space - yes there are parking issues, but there are ways to fix 'em. I strongly suspect that the bed-shortages there are really staff shortages rather than space shortages.

Of course arguing on this basis means we'd have to talk about services provided (hard) rather than buildings (easy), so I suspect we won't see much about it.

On a related note: is health funding in this country allocated on the basis of population? Is Galway getting reduced funding because our official population is less than the real population - because so many folks put down their home place instead of where they actually live at census time (and so many folks just seem to avoid the census totally)? I've no proof, but a strong hunch that this might be part of problem.

hamlet1

The building under construction at the back of Merlin Park is the new unit for kids with psycholological problems,it is replacing St Annes.The elective Orthopaedic ward will probably close too,so god help anybody on the waiting list for surgery because they are in for an even longer wait.The ground and first floors of the Hospital Block have just been completely renovated and the second floor is almost ready.What a disgraceful waste of money if they close it down.:mad:

tinofapples

Vastly unused plot, all the land up there and building just left to rot and fall down. UCHG hasn't parking for staff never mind visitors.

skelliser

Well you can thank the PD's and Mary Harney for effectivly killing of free health care in this country. Did ye know that here husband is heavily involved in health care think tanks that lobby the gov. on behalf of the private health care industry.
Its no surprise all the private hospitals that sprang up over the last decade around the country and the co-location scheme.
Add to this the mandatory pension scheme coming in 2014 you can effectively say good bye to the public health system and vast swades of the social welfare system.

Watch over the next 2 years how they sell of all the state asissts to their vested interest friends to pay for ruining this country.

Wont be long until ireland can truely call itself the 51st state of america.

JohnCleary

skelliser wrote: »

Dunno about that. Merlin park was originally built as an isolation hospital to house people suffering from tb. Hence why all the units are spaced out, it has/had its own power station and the size of the grounds.

Almot every hospital in the country has their own power station - It's called a big feckin generator! Merlin and UHG definately do, and can run the whole hospital on them

swe_fi wrote: »

I also had to go there in a professional capacity like a year ago to look at something and the place is ancient.

As someone who was a long term patient there, I didn't care about the paint on the walls. What I cared about was how I was treated. I was very happy with how I was treated by all the staff up there (Even the porters are nice, happy people which can make a huge difference to a patient)

tinofapples wrote: »

Vastly unused plot, all the land up there and building just left to rot and fall down. UCHG hasn't parking for staff never mind visitors.

Utter tripe. I (along with others here) used to work up there during the summer. The land is kept to a good standard and is maintained well - I dare you to find any of the grounds up there that's over-grown/wild (Please include. The buildings are hardly rotting and being let to fall down, and trust me i've seen the inside and out of every building up there. They may not look a million dollars from the outside, but what the heck does the outside cosmetics of a building have to do with the recovery and safe being of patients? Your statement is plain stupid, however, i'm always open to correction so if you can take pictures and show us of these rotting lands/buildings i'll happily retract what I said. I have no reason to defend the place only that i'm a past long-term patient who was treated well there

tinofapples

Utter tripe. I (along with others here) used to work up there during the summer. The land is kept to a good standard and is maintained well - I dare you to find any of the grounds up there that's over-grown/wild (Please include. The buildings are hardly rotting and being let to fall down, and trust me i've seen the inside and out of every building up there. They may not look a million dollars from the outside, but what the heck does the outside cosmetics of a building have to do with the recovery and safe being of patients? Your statement is plain stupid, however, i'm always open to correction so if you can take pictures and show us of these rotting lands/buildings i'll happily retract what I said. I have no reason to defend the place only that i'm a past long-term patient who was treated well there

Okay, they're not falling down and the grounds are well kept and I probably shouldn't have said that, my main problem is all the space they have in Merlin to expand buildings/car parks whatever it may be and they are simply turning a blind eye to it in favour of the Newcastle site. I grew up in the area and used to ramble the woods as a youngster. Would have loved to see it developed and used to it's full potential.