Portlaoise A&E must not be downgraded – Wall
Labour Party General Election candidate for Kildare South Councillor Mark Wall, has called on the Minister for Health to ensure that there is no downgrading of Accident and Emergency services in the Midland Regional Hospital in Portlaoise.
Councillor Wall said:
“The Minister for Health needs to ensure there is no downgrading of services in Portlaoise.
“Portlaoise is a regional hospital serving a large catchment of over 200,000 population; proving maternity services for a large tract of the country including Laois, Offaly, Kildare, Tipperary and Carlow.
“The A&E in Portlaoise is one of the busiest in the regions dealing with over 30,000 cases annually; it is the only emergency department between Naas and Limerick situated on the M7&M8 motorway network. It is also located with a few hundred metres of two high security prisons, with over 1,200 staff alone. Staff and inmates regularly require recourse to the hospital A&E.
“Downgrading this hospital would be unsafe, counter-productive, shortsighted and immediately lead to an exacerbation of patient safety issues, delays and overcrowding in other A&E’s in places like Tallaght, Naas and Tullamore hospitals.
“Downgrading the A&E would have massive implications for the people in South Kildare and other surrounding counties. I will continue to work with my Labour colleagues Alan Kelly TD and Councillors Aoife Breslin and Noel Touhy to ensure that this A&E remains open 24/7.”