Health Trust Could Damage Services In Roscommon - FG

A Fine Gael proposal to create independent hospital trusts in Roscommon could result in a loss of services at Roscommon Hospital, according to Fianna Fáil's Councillor Eugene Murphy.

Cllr Murphy said that these hospital trusts would effectively act independently of the HSE and devise their own plans to organise services within their group.

"This is a very worrying development and the lack of clarity about how these trusts would operate is a source of serious concern. This plan could have serious repercussions for Roscommon Hospital in terms of services – as smaller hospitals will be left at the mercy of larger hospitals in the trust structure – and there can be no certainty that the services currently provided at the hospital will be retained," Cllr. Murphy said.

"Roscommon has already been badly let down by Fine Gael. They promised to keep the A&E open before the last election but only months after getting in to Government they shut its doors. Fine Gael has form when it comes to dismantling health services and the possibility of independent hospital trusts raises alarm bells.

"Not only could services suffer, staff could be forced into new contracts with diminished terms and conditions. The Fine Gael plan is that these trusts will manage their own recruitment, agree individual contracts with key staff and make collective agreements with their employees. This would have major consequences for employment standards across the health service. Any change could lead to staff in one hospital group being paid less or having different contracts of employment than staff in another group.

"Fianna Fáil is firmly opposed to Fine Gael's plans for independent hospital groups. We won't let health services be broken up and fragmented. We will not let our hospitals be subjected to years of upheaval and possible industrial relations turmoil. Fine Gael has presided over chaos in our health system. Fianna Fáil will change that."

(MH/LM)