Hospital Watch launched at Lourdes
THE town of Drogheda was in mourning this week following the news of the sudden death of well known retailer Matt Kavanagh.
Matt was the proprietor of Kavanagh’s Shop on Crushrod Avenue for decades and was a well known and much loved character in the local area, who always had a warm smile and plenty of banter for his customers.
He was described as ‘one in a million’ and a ‘pure gentleman’ by customers who paid tribute on Facebook.
Another poster said he always had a ‘ big smile and a kind word’ for everyone who came into the shop.
A resident of Sedalt, Stamullen in County Meath Matt is survived by his loving wife Lillie, sons Paul, Noel, Brian and Terry, daughters Lorraine and Noreen, sons-in-law, daughtersin-law, partners, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, brother Thomas, sisters Noreen, Phyllis and Bridie, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, nieces and nephews, relatives and a large circle of friends.
His funeral Mass took place in St Patrick’s Church Stamullen with burial afterwards in Stamullen Cemetery. A new scheme to help reduce crime and improve safety at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda was launched this week by Superintendent Andrew Watters.
The project is a joint initiative between An Garda Siochana in Drogheda and staff and patients at the hospital.
Superintendent Watters said that while people see the hospital as a place of safety and security criminals can see a hospital and the community attending as potential easy targets.
‘ This is why the Hospital Watch initiative is so important,’ he said. ‘It aims to raise awareness of staff, patients and visitors to reduce the opportunities for crime by taking crime prevention measures and reporting any suspicious activity.’
A site survey was carried out by the Crime Prevention Officer Sergeant Jackson and his report outlined recommendations that are in the process of being addressed.
‘It’s about increasing awareness of everyone in the hospital to something that’s not right or if unfortunately they are a victim of crime, to know what to do about it,’ said the Superintendent. ‘Criminals see hospitals as an easy target, you have the hospital itself and you have all the environs around it. You have parked cars, you have people outside smoking, they’re very easy targets to be robbed. They’re very unique places by their very nature, people can walk in as if they’re visiting somebody and they mightn’t be visiting someone at all. They are open so we’re just trying to increase awareness. We’re working with the security staff and with all the other stakeholders in the hospital.’
In recent months, the Emergency Department at the hospital has been the victim of a number of crimes, with assault in particular on the rise.
‘ The Emergency Department can be a very aggressive, intimidating, volatile environment at times and the security staff are dealing with that,’ said the Superintendent.
However, he said Hospital Watch is a positive community based programme with gardaí collaborating with the hospital community to prevent and reduce crime and the fear of crime.
Pro-active strategies will include increased high visibility foot patrols at the hospital and increased liaison with hospital security personnel, the establishment of garda clinics and an increased crime prevention awareness which, it is intended, will result in a reduction in the opportunity for crime.
Garda Patrick Sheridan of the Community Policing Unit in Drogheda Garda Station will liaise with the Hospital Watch committee providing advice on local crime patterns and ways to combat them with the emphasis on crime prevention, Superintendent Watters said.
A crime analysis survey for 2016 and 2017 to date was conducted by Garda Sheridan as part of the Hospital Watch initiative.
The hospital caters for almost 40,000 patients a year with 27,320 inpatients annually and 8,951 day patients.
In addition, the Emergency Department deals with 52,479 patients annually averaging at 140 a day and Superintendent Watters admits the department can often be beset with aggression and violence, aimed at both security staff and the nurses and doctors working there. HE said gardaí expect an initial increase in crime figures in the immediate aftermath of the initiation of this scheme.
‘People become more aware of crimes, suspicious activity and the importance of reporting the same and this is reflected in the crime statistics,’ he said. ‘We have seen this with our increased engagement in the town with the business community.’