Michael McNamara (Clare, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the Minister of State, Deputy Coffey, coming before the House, but he is not responsible for health issues.

I wanted to raise the fact that last week, without any notice to patients, staff or anybody else, the rehabilitation ward was closed in St. Joseph's Hospital in Ennis, County Clare. It primarily provides services to elderly people in County Clare. There are equivalent hospitals in Limerick and Newcastle West, St. Ita's and St. Camillus's, respectively. I raised the issue with the Health Service Executive, HSE, when I found out about it and I was told there had been an incidence of mumps and on that basis one member of staff had to stop working temporarily lest he or she transmit it to patients.

I understand the term "cohort" was used. The HSE used many different words and assigned new meanings to words. I was told patients would have to be moved around the hospital, but there would be no reduction in services. A week later I visited the hospital and there was a padlock on the rehabilitation unit. Most of the patients had been moved to other units which were, to my non-informed eye, grossly overcrowded. Staff morale was low. It is entirely unacceptable that this happened in a week when the Government suspended the business of the Dáil for three days to congratulate itself on having saved the country, if not the world.

I appreciate that the country was in a very difficult financial situation and one cannot be in such a situation without a loss in services. As we are now coming out of that and the country's finances are improving, various tax cuts are being discussed. However, our services need to be addressed. I am not raising this issue in the Dáil to criticise the HSE or the director of nursing for the decision taken because I assume she took the only decision available to her, namely, to close the particular ward for reasons of patient safety. There simply are not enough staff on duty in St. Joseph's to keep the ward open. I speak as somebody who has had a family member in that ward in the past 12 months.

I know the service that is provided there and how essential rehabilitation is to people, in particular the elderly who have had accidents. The service is indispensable to their progress and their ability to leave acute hospitals and return to their homes. The patients have been dispersed to other wards and are now in with long stay patients and people who are in receipt of respite care. It is having an impact across the hospital.

The fact that it is closed at present is unacceptable, as are the nature and timing of the closure. It is not good enough in 2015 to announce one morning that a ward is to be temporarily closed, transfer the patients to other units and put a padlock on the door. Even now, nobody can say for sure when it is going to reopen.

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