Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

Does the Minister accept that the removal of services from Monaghan General Hospital and the other hospital sites to which I have referred has created an impossible working environment for consultants, doctors, nurses and other front-line service providers in County Cavan, in particular, but also in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda? That is untenable and cannot be allowed to continue.

Will the Minister acknowledge that at the time of the removal of all acute services at Monaghan General Hospital in July 2007 the previous Government made particular promises, none of which has been delivered on? I refer specifically to the promised enhancement of the primary care unit and ambulatory service for the county. The opposite has happened. Last June both the rapid response 24/7 service, with its advanced paramedic facility, and the patient transport ambulance service staffed by two emergency medical technicians were moved from Monaghan to Castleblayney to compensate for the loss of services at Louth County Hospital, Dundalk, which is now servicing all of counties Monaghan and Louth. We had no compensatory measures introduced by the last Government. I hope Deputy Reilly will be the Minister who will address the critical health care and acute hospital service needs of the people of County Monaghan.

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