Councillors protest at Louth Hospital over services cuts
LOUTH Sinn Féin held a protest outside the gates of Louth Hospital last week to highlight the deterioration of services.
Cllr Anne Campbell who has been very vocal on extending the Minor Injuries Unit to treat over 5s instead of just over 14s said, ‘ the MIU is an excellent resource for the Louth hospital to have but if they would extend the service to the over 5s, as we were promised by the Minister with great fanfare when he visited the Hospital over a year ago, that would alleviate a burden that currently falls on Drogheda Hospital.
‘It is crazy to expect parents with under 14s to have to drive past the MIU in Dundalk and drive to Drogheda where they could wait for goodness knows how long, simply because of an age restriction.’
Another issue highlighted today at the protest was the length of time for X-Rays.
Cllr Pearse McGeough said ‘if you are sent for an X-ray it is usually for a good reason but as it stands at the minute, despite having eight whole time radiographers in the Louth Hospital, people are waiting up to 14 days depending on urgency while others are waiting 6 weeks for routine referrals. This is unacceptable.’
Cllr Ruairí Ó Murchú commented on the waiting lists in Louth and called for the ‘optimisation of the surgical beds in Louth Hospital. At the minute there is an 8 bed day ward at the hospital, we need to utilise these beds overnight and have a 24hour short stay surgical ward. This would help tackle the spiralling waiting lists in Louth. People in Louth deserve better.’
Commenting after the protest, Cllr Anne Campbell said ‘We will continue to campaign for the restoration of services at Louth Hospital.
‘We will continue with these protests here in Dundalk and our TDs Gerry Adams and Imelda Munster will keep the pressure on in Dublin, until the hospital is being utilised to its full potential.’