No set timeline for installation of new MRI machine at Wexford Hospital
WHILE the people of Wexford managed to hit a target of €250,000 towards a brand-new MRI machine for Wexford General Hospital two and a half years ago, the HSE has failed to come up with its part of the funding or put in place any firm timeline for its installation, while a private operator continues to offer scans from its own machine on the hospital campus.
A number of years ago, an agreement was reached with charity group Friends of Wexford General Hospital that if they managed to raise €250,000, then the HSE would cover the outstanding cost of an MRI machine (an estimated €750k) and the cost of a building to house it (estimated to be around another €750k). In October of 2018, the group proudly announced that the people of Wexford had come up trumps, the required quarter of a million had been secured and that the process would now begin to install the machine at the hospital.
In the meantime, an agreement was reached with the HSE to allow private operator, Alliance Medical, to install their own MRI machine on the hospital campus to provide scans for both private and public patients and outpatients ‘on an interim basis’ until the new publicy owned machine was installed.
However, two and a half years later this arrangement shows no signs of ending. The €250k remains in the account of Friends of Wexford General Hospital and the HSE has provided no definitive timeline of when the publicly owned MRI machine will be installed.
It’s understood that Alliance Medical reached a deal with the HSE to perform a fixed number of public scans, while also offering scans to private patients from the unit situated outside Wexford General. There have been numerous reports, however, of medical card patients either being told they’d be ineligible for a scan in Wexford, or they’d face an extensive wait unless they opted to pay over sums anywhere between €200 and €500.
Labour councillor George Lawlor has accused the HSE of ‘ hoodwinking’ the people of Wexford and says the majority of people believe that the MRI machine currently on the hospital campus is the one that was paid for by their fundraising efforts.
‘This deal with Alliance Medical was supposed to be an “interim measure”, but it’s seeming like quite a long-term interim measure at this stage,’ he said. ‘ I’m sure the people of Wexford would be shocked to hear that the MRI machine operating here is not the one that was fundraised for. The community of Wexford went out in force to fundraise for this and it seems that the HSE is happier to line the pockets of a private company than future proof the hospital and provide what was promised to the people of this county. It’s an absolute scandal and it’s a slap in the face to the people of Wexford who gave so generously to this cause and to the Friends of Wexford General Hospital committee who worked so assiduously to raise this money.’
‘It feels like the HSE has hoodwinked the people of Wexford. The money was raised and it seems as though they’ve put a private MRI machine there and said nothing.’
Although more measured in his response, Ciaran Sheridan of Friends of Wexford General Hospital did express concerns for the project.
‘Firstly it’s important to stress that the money that was raised, we still have it,’ he said. ‘That money remains in the account of Friends of Wexford General Hospital and we won’t pay over a cent until that machine is ready to be dropped into place.’
While it would not entirely explain the delay in getting this project over the line, Mr Sheridan said that Covid-19 has been a significant factor. Progress has continued on an extension to the Emergency Department during the pandemic, but the building work required to install the new machine in the desired location near the radiology department would reportedly require contractors to be allowed within the hospital, something not possible at the moment under Covid restrictions.
However, for Mr Sheridan and Friends of Wexford General, a bigger concern is the availability of the additional public finances required and the lack of any sort of timeline.
‘I think the bigger concern is public finances,’ he said. ‘There’s a huge chunk of public money needed for this too. We don’t know what are the other priorities for the hospital. When we raise it, we’re being met with an attitude of “we don’t know”. It’s frustrating, but at the same time, what can you do?
‘I’ve no doubt that this will happen,’ he continued. ‘It’s just a question of when it will happen. In the coming months, we intend to ramp up the pressure on this from every angle. If Covid follows the trajectory that’s being predicted now, we should hopefully be emerging from this by the end of the summer with the vaccine. We really need to start seeing some kind of timelines on this now.’
In fact, speaking on South East Radio yesterday (Monday) morning, chief executive of the HSE Paul Reid bumbled his way through a question seeking clarity on a timeline for the public MRI machine. ‘I can’t give clarity on that at the moment,’ he said.
For its part, a statement from the Ireland East Hospital Group said: ‘Wexford General Hospital have an agreement in place with Alliance that facilitates the scanning of public/private patients and outpatients on the hospital campus. The current arrangement is an interim measure until funding is granted by the HSE to house a fully functional publicly owned MRI in Wexford General Hospital.
‘Wexford General Hospital is very thankful to the Wexford public who have helped fund the new MRI.’
The feeling is very much that the management of Wexford General Hospital are keen to proceed with the installation of the new MRI machine, however, with no firm timeline in place and hospitals like St Luke’s rumoured to be higher up the priority list for similar projects, it appears the funding secured by the people of Wexford could remain in the Friends of Wexford General Hospital bank account for a while yet.