Downgrading of Portlaoise Hospital must be stopped
Labour spokesperson on Health, Alan Kelly TD, has said any downgrading of Portlaoise Hospital must be stopped and that the Minister should make his intentions clear.
Deputy Kelly said:
“Any downgrading of Portlaoise hospital is unacceptable both in the context of the Sláintecare Report and a growing population locally.
“There is a bed capacity review underway that needs to be completed and a central part of the Sláintecare Report is that the outputs of acute hospitals would be assessed in year three.
“Minister Harris should come clean on what the HSE is planning for Portlaoise as the ‘Dublin Midlands Hospital Group Strategic Plan 2018-2023’ is due to be published on Thursday which will make clear what the long term plans are.
“There are serious concerns locally that the A&E, ICU, maternity, paediatrics and most surgery will be removed from Portlaoise.
“Local Labour Councillors Noel Touhy, Mark Wall and Aoife Breslin have all expressed their deep concerns to me on the impact the loss of those services would have.
“The Labour Party will oppose plans to downgrade the services provided at Portlaoise Hospital which will put further pressure on other acute hospitals in the region.”