Concern over future of Belmullet hospital

HSE told downgrading of Belmullet Hospital will be resisted


Belmullet hospital
Anton McNulty

THE HSE have been told to ‘keep their hands off’ Belmullet District Hospital following fears among staff and the community that the hospital will be downgraded with some wards closed.
Last weekend, 15 to 20 of the hospital’s 40 beds were left empty despite 25 patients being left lying on trolleys in Mayo General Hospital. This has led to fears in the community that the hospital is to be downgraded with ward closures to cut costs.
There are currently 22 full-time nurses and a further 25 support staff working in the hospital which provides palliative care to members of the community. Local councillor, Rose Conway-Walsh told The Mayo News that the hospital served around 10,000 people in the Erris area and beyond and vowed that their hospital was not going to be a casualty of the ‘Government’s mismanagement of the economy’.
“There is a real fear in the community that these beds will be closed and if that happens they will never open. GP’s need to be able to refer patients whose needs can be met in Belmullet to be sent there rather than to Castlebar. In the past we have seen our A&E department disappear overnight and people don’t want the same thing to happen here. Closing these beds will also affect the county because it will result in more people being sent to Castlebar to take up beds which will leave more patients on trolleys,” she said.
Cllr Conway-Walsh added that the HSE should save money by getting rid of the hundreds of managers they have and called for the HSE to allay the fears of the staff and the community.
Responding to a question from The Mayo News a spokesperson for the HSE said; “No decision has been made yet in relation to possible temporary bed closures at Belmullet Community  Hospital. Any decision that is taken will be in light of the current moratorium of the recruitment of nursing and non-nursing staff’.
Fine Gael TD, Michael Ring said he would oppose any efforts to close beds in the hospital which he said has benefitted from fundraising from the community.
“In the past, emigrants in America and England raised money for the running of the hospital, for scan machines and an extension to the building. They put a lot of money into it over the years. It would be a letdown for these people who worked so hard for the hospital. If the HSE get away with this, the next thing is that they will close down the hospital altogether.”