A Social Democrat candidate in next month's local elections is calling for a broader range of healthcare facilities to be available in rural towns and has cited Macroom as an ideal town for such a facility.
A SOCIAL Democrat candidate in next month’s local elections is calling for a broader range of healthcare facilities to be available in rural towns and has cited Macroom as an ideal town for such a facility.
Síle Ní Dhubhghaill’s call comes in the wake of the recent Status Black warning being declared at the emergency department of CUH which saw patients endureing waiting times of at least 12 hours.
‘This type of congestion in our emergency departments is incredibly worrying. It is imperative that a hospital like CUH can treat serious illnesses in a timely manner,’ said Ms Ní Dhubhghaill.
‘We could free up more space for the staff to work in by moving some non-emergency patients to better equipped primary healthcare facilities in our rural towns. The Social Democrats’ Slaintecare policy for universal healthcare details plans for procedures and diagnostics, such as x-rays to be available in primary healthcare facilities in our communities,’ she said.
Ms Ní Dhubhghaill believes that Macroom would be an ideal town for a primary healthcare centre such as those envisioned in the policy. ‘We are ideally situated here to serve the wider area. We have a wonderful community hospital on a campus that could be updated to include a new primary healthcare facility that would serve our town and surrounding villages.’
She added that this policy has cross-party support.
‘If patients in towns throughout Cork county could receive this treatment without travelling to CUH, this would go a long way to freeing up space in A&E. As it stands, we are forced to travel to CUH for treatment.’
