Brid Smith

STOP THE CUTS TO RESPITE CARE AT CHERRYORCHARD HOSPITAL – June 2009

The management at the hospital have told Councillor Brid Smith that the closure of the Beech is due to staff shortages for the Summer months. However, they could not give any guarantees as to when it will reopen.

Nurses who are taking annual leave and maternity leave are not being replaced. The HSE embargo on recruitment is once again seriously hurting patients receiving respite care and their families.

Last year the carers campaigned strongly with Brid Smith to stop the permanent closure of respite care services in Cherry-orchard Hospital. They collected thousands of signatures, lobbied politicians and held two very large demonstrations through Ballyfermot up to the Hospital. The respite care services were successfully re-instated at that time. Following that campaign the Beech unit at the hospital was renovated and extended. This new and beautiful facility will now lie empty due to cuts.

Cherry-orchard management have told Councillor Smith that all roll-over patients would receive respite care in private nursing homes as close as possible to where they live for the duration of the closure. But Councillor Smith says

“The cost to the HSE of placing patients in private nursing homes for the period of the closure of the Beech Unit could amount to more than what it would cost to employ temporary nursing staff. Taking nurses and care workers off the dole would be much more sensible and cost effective. Such workers would be paid and taxed and would not be receiving social welfare benefit. The idea of pumping the money into private nursing homes is objectionable when public money could be used to employ nurses and give the patients the on-going care they deserve in the surroundings they are accustomed to. We call on the HSE to once again change their policy in relation to respite care and to keep the Beech unit open.”

The knock-on effect of the closure of the Beech unit would mean shifting permanent patients into other units such as the Laurel. It will also mean longer waiting periods for families whose loved ones need permanent respite beds in the hospital.

Carers and their families will be holding a public meeting in Ballyfermot on Tuesday 30th June at 8pm in the Civic Centre along with the local councillors. It is their intention to campaign yet again to save the respite services and put pressure on the HSE to keep the Beech unit open. Brid Smith said “The carers and their families are ready and willing to march and fight again to save these services. This public meeting is for all concerned across West Dublin – in Ballyfermot, Bluebell, Palmerstown, Tallaght and elsewhere.”

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT COUNCILLOR BRID SMITH AT 087 9090166

Fears over Crumlin waiting lists

Taken from the Irish Times Monday, June 22, 2009, 12:36

By Charlie Taylor

A  leading orthopaedic surgeon has warned that delays for spinal surgery at Our Lady’s hospital in Crumlin due to cutbacks makes no economic sense and could lead to further deformities in children.

Speaking this morning, Dr Patrick Kiely, a surgeon based at Crumlin children’s hospital said that it was likely that fewer procedures would be carried out this year due to cutbacks.

He warned that this could lead to further deformities in children awaiting operations.

“One of the difficulties with children who have orthopaedic problems, whether it’s spinal deformity or deformity in any part of the muscular skeletan system is that as they grow and as time goes on the deformity gets magnified in a high proportion of children,” said Dr Kiely.

“Waiting or delay can lead to a clinical deterioration and an increase in magnitude or scale of the problem. If you have a tendency to deformity, growth is not your friend,” he added.

A total of 168 children and adolescents are currently awaiting surgery for scoliosis in Crumlin.

According to the latest data, children awaiting surgery at the hospital last year deteriorated by average of 10 degrees while they were waiting for procedures to be performed.

In 2008, 104 patients were listed for surgery, of which just 40 were treated for major deformity correction involving some 67 operations.

Speaking on RTE Radio, Dr Kiely said that he and his collegues had “grave concerns” that they would be unable to undertake as many procedures this year because they were losing between 15 and 20 per cent of orthopaedic operating capacity because of the cut-backs.

Dr Kiely claimed that in addition to leading to a deterioration in the health of patients, it made little economic sense to postpone surgery.

“It is counterproductive to delay because the scale of the problem becomes so much worse that you are often talking about treatment for life and mulitple operations at an extremely high cost,” he said.

Co Kilkenny girl Jamie Murphy (11), whose family claims she has been denied life-saving surgery at the hospital for her severe scoliosis due to budget cutbacks which caused the procedure to be cancelled at Crumlin, is to undergo a spinal operation in London next month.

The National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) said today it strongly rejected what it called “completely inaccurate and unsubstantiated claims” made in a number of newspapers that scoliosis procedures arranged by the Fund cost ‘two to three times’ more than similar procedures performed in the public hospital system.

“The prices the NTPF pays for operations are as competitive as the published prices for the public hospital system and no premium is paid for work done through the NTPF,” it said in a statement.

A private member’s motion is to be debated in the Dáil this week, calling on the Government to abandon cutbacks at Crumlin.

For link to the Irish Times Article

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/0622/breaking39.htm

Please on the link below for further information in regards to the campaign to stop the cuts to Crumlin Hospital

Leaflet regarding the cuts to Crumlin Hospital

Protest at Crumlin Children’s Hospital

Tuesday May 12^th at 6pm

HSE hospital network manager John Bulfin stated in a letter to Crumlin Children’s Hospital in January: “Savings should be targeted to ensure frontline patient care services are appropriately maintained.”

This is what he means by maintaining appropriate patient care services.

• Because of a forecasted deficit of €9.6 million, three wards will shut down this year, starting with St Joseph ’s due to close on May 14th with two more to close in July and August.
• There will be over 7,000 fewer in-patient bed days at the hospital this year. Theatres will also close and there will also be a 15 per cent reduction in day case activity along with a 15 per cent reduction in outpatient activity.
• Two “play” specialists will be lost on May 14th. These specialists are crucially important for many children.
• It is expected that the contracts of 17 household workers will not be renewed in May. There will be cuts in agency staffing and in staff holding temporary contracts, and also in overtime and on-call payments.

In other words, the State’s largest children’s hospital will not be open for our children this summer. Operations will be cancelled. If a child breaks an arm/leg what will happen?

This is a step too far – our wages have been cut and a lot of us are losing jobs but when our children’s health and lives are put at risk we have to take action and take it now.

The HSE must not be allowed to put its accounts before our children’s welfare.

Parents, children, hospital workers must come out on May 12^th.  We will organise the immediate next steps from the protest to stop this lunacy.

Issued by the Save our Crumlin Children’s Hospital Campaign Contact Theresa Shallow 086-2711404; Cllr Joan Collins 086-3888151 or Brid Smith 087-9090166

Clink on the link below to Sign the petition to

Fight Against the Cuts to Crumlin Hospital

http://www.gopetition.com/online/15434.html

The Real Face of Fianna Fail and the Greens . . .

Cuts to Cervical Cancer Services but Tax Breaks for Private Hospitals

The government’s decision in November 2008 to cancel the cervical cancer vaccination programme for young girls and women has once again shown where the priorities of the Fianna Fail-Green government lie.

Earlier in 2008 the government had announced that it would make available, a free cervical cancer vaccine to all 12 year old girls. However, on an evening, when most eyes were on the US elections, the Minister for Health, Mary Harney, quietly announced that the vaccination programme was cancelled.

Every 18 minutes a woman in Europe dies from cervical cancer. In Ireland 70 women die every year and 180 Irish women are diagnosed with cervical cancer.

Prof John Crown, a leading cancer specialist, has said “this is the worst decision I ever saw made by a democratic government in my living memory”. Harney’s decision leaves over 31,000 12-year old girls at risk in order to save €9.7 million out of a health budget of €16,000 million.

A leading medical journal called this vaccine “the greatest scientific advance that any government can do for its people today” and yet the Irish government refuses to provide it to young girls.

This vaccination programme could prevent more 75% of deaths from cervical cancer and 75% of those women needing expensive and invasive treatment. This means in Ireland in 2004, 52 deaths could have been saved.

It was unthinkable 30 years ago that we would have a vaccine that would prevent cancer. Since it has been made possible in relation to cervical cancer, the implications for the lives and wellbeing of women today, make it unthinkable and unconscionable that we would not use it. At least 13 European countries have already decided to offer free vaccination to adolescent girls.

Again, it will be the most vulnerable in society who at risk. Women living in the most deprived areas are 2.6 times more likely to develop cervical cancer. It is estimated that the cost of the vaccination privately will be about €600 and therefore it is only rich families that will be able to protect their children’s future health.

Instead of protecting the vulnerable, this government is passing a “death sentence” on a certain percentage of those young girls, whose parents can not afford the vaccine.

This government is unwilling to spend a small sum of money to save women’s lives, while happy to pay €1.2 million in bonuses to HSE executives, who have overseen the systematic mismanagement of our health service and give tax breaks worth €10.6 million to the developers of private for-profit hospitals.

The government insists that money is scarce and difficult decisions have to be made. However this is about life and death not costs. If such a drastic decision, which will cost lives, is allowed to made to save less than €10 million a year, then we must wonder what future cuts the Government is prepared to implement in the weeks and months ahead as the economy falls further into recession.

We must show the Government that we are appalled by this decision as well as with the other cut backs which are affecting the most vulnerable in our society. If we do nothing we will get nothing.

Cherry Orchard Hospital – Cut Backs on Respite Care -April 2008

The impact of these health cuts meant that over 50 families in the Ballyfermot area alone would not receive any respite care for the foreseeable future. Their lives and the lives of their patients would be severely affected. Carers do a job that save the health service billions of euro each year. This cutback is hitting the most vulnerable of people in our communities.Bríd Smith the local rep for the People for Before Profit Alliance who organised the protest said, “These cutbacks are inhuman. There is outrage in our community over this and today’s protest is the first of many that carers and the wider community will engage in to force the HSE to rescind these cuts. The HSE should look to its own back door and the money that is paid out each year in massive salaries and bonus payments to over 600 senior management.

On the 16th of April a large and lively protest took place outside Cherry Orchard Hospital by carers, patients and supporters in the Ballyfermot area. Two weeks earlier carers who look after their loved ones at home were told by phone calls from the HSE that roll-over respite care had been cut due to budgetary constraints.

In the long run these cuts will cost our health service dearly as many families will be unable to sustain home care and may have to place their loved ones in full time hospital or nursing home care. It is only people power can that stop these cuts and it is time to put people before profit.”

Anthony Butler who lives on Decies Road and cares for his mother at home said, “Both my mother and I rely completely on the respite service. If this cut is allowed to proceed I worry for our mental health and I will find it impossible to maintain home caring for my mother. It is time for the people to stand up together and stay on the streets until the Government listen to us.”

The following is a link to an article written in the Southside People Newspaper on this campaign:

http://www.dublinpeople.com/content/view/403/57/

Click on the link below to watch RTE NEWS Report on the Protest

http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0416/6news_av.html?2362825,null,230

Cherry Orchard Hospital – Cut Backs on Respite Care Recinded

Later on April 24th, the HSE in Cherry Orchard Hospital phoned individual carers who avail of respite care and were due to have it cut by end of May, that the cuts had been rescinded. Social workers informed carers that the budget was now in place to fully restore the roll-over respite service.

Bríd said “It was the carers themselves and the wider community, particularly in Ballyfermot who have brought about this u-turn by the HSE. Petitions, protests, public meetings and a media campaign have pulled the community together to fully support the carers.”

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