HUNDREDS BRAVED inclement weather in Waterford on Saturday afternoon to take part in a protest march against Health Service Executive (HSE) plans to close a ward at the city’s only geriatric hospital.
The protest rally occurred three days after a 51-year-old Ferrybank man ended a nine-day hunger strike at St Patrick’s Hospital, where the HSE plan to close the 19-bed, St Bridget’s Ward.
Seán Brett (51), whose 90-year-old mother Bríd is a patient at the hospital, began his hunger strike on May 4th in opposition to the move. He ended the action last Wednesday.
The HSE maintains the closure is vital for “health and safety reasons”, while this has been disputed by staff. Daily protests began three months ago after the executive said it planned to build a new 50-bed community nursing unit as a replacement for St Bridget’s.
However, campaigners maintain that the HSE has not ring-fenced funding for the new facility and that an exact location for the facility has not been formally identified.
Minister for Health Mary Harney has agreed to meet Oireachtas members from the region on Wednesday in relation to the issue.
Siptu, Unite and the INO were among the unions represented at the march on Saturday, organised by the Waterford Congress of Trade Unions and the Friends of St Patrick’s.
Hundreds took place in the march, which started at the HSE buildings on the Cork road and moved into the city centre, where they were addressed by various speakers at John Roberts Square.
Mr Brett told them it would cost €40,000 to make the ward “health and safety compliable” and that the Friends of St Patrick’s were willing to fund this.
“The HSE are talking about new units, and that’s all they’re doing; they’re only talking about it,” said Mr Brett.
“It took 40 years to get a second bridge [in Waterford]. Are we going to have to wait 40 years to get a new unit? All we’re asking for is truth, justice and fairness . . . and it’s not an awful lot.”
Margo Flavin, a spokeswoman for the Friends of St Patrick’s, added: “What we want is for the HSE to review the situation; to come up with a plan that will allow St Patrick’s Hospital to continue as a centre of excellence for the sick, the elderly patients of Waterford and south Kilkenny.”
A spokeswoman for the HSE said following the protest that no existing patient in St Patrick’s Hospital would be moved to accommodation elsewhere. Patients in St Bridget’s ward on the first floor would be moved to ground floor accommodation at the hospital as beds became available.
“The HSE has outlined previously that this decision is rooted in the new standards laid out by the Health Information Quality Authority (Hiqa), which come into effect in July.”
St Bridget’s ward could not achieve the standards laid down in the Hiqa guidelines.
“Consequently the HSE is proceeding with plans for a 50-bed community nursing unit at this site,” the spokeswoman said.
