A LIST of all available services at Bantry General Hospital will be circulated by the HSE to all GPs and SouthDoc services in the catchment area after it emerged that some locums were sending West Cork patients unnecessarily to CUH when in fact certain services are available at their local hospital.
This issue was raised by Independent Councillor Finbarr Harrington at last week’s Regional Health Forum South in County Hall.
Speaking after the meeting, Cllr Harrington told The Southern Star that he was keen to put it out there that Bantry General Hospital is a fabulous hospital with wonderful staff.
‘There are lots of things going on at that hospital that people don’t know about, and that also includes visiting locums who are covering for SouthDoc who don’t know what services are actually available at Bantry General Hospital,’ said Cllr Harrington.
‘In some cases they are sending them up to CUH when there is no need, as they could have sent them to Bantry, saving these people time and stress.’
Cllr Harrington said he raised the motion after being told by a constituent from the Beara Peninsula that a locum proposed to send them to CUH following a fall.
‘He was sending this person up for a CT scan to CUH but sure there’s a CT scan available at Bantry General Hospital. Luckily, the person concerned knew that there is a CT scan in Bantry and told the locum they would go to the local injury unit there instead of travelling to Cork city. They got assessed and were out within the hour.’
He said that Bantry General Hospital is a fantastic facility which is vital for locals, as an ambulance trip to CUH can take up to two and a half hours.
‘There has been plenty investment in the hospital and you see all the work taking place there.
‘We need to be talking up this hospital as it’s a brilliant facility to have.’
A HSE spokesperson told him in reply that this information about the services at Bantry Hospital will be circulated to GPs and SouthDoc services within the catchment area of Bantry General Hospital through their GP Unit.
