MINOR INJURY UNIT CLOSURE FEARS EMERGE AT TOWN COUNCIL

Fears were voiced by some members of Monaghan Town Council on Monday night that the curtailment in the hours of operation at the Minor Injury Unit at Monaghan General Hospital could be a prelude to the eventual closure of the facility.
Although Fine Gael representatives Tommy Hagan and David Maxwell (who is Cathaoirleach of the Council and a Monaghan Co Council representative on the North-East Health Forum) professed to have heard nothing to substantiate the alarm for the MIU’s future, other councillors interpreted as foreboding some of the statements contained in a letter on the issue which the authority received from the Health Service Executive’s Area Manager for Cavan and Monaghan.
At what was the Council’s November monthly meeting, there was unanimous support for a motion from Independent councillor Seamus Treanor that read: “That this Council call on the Government to instruct the HSE to restore the services at the Minor Injury Unit to a 7-day facility, and to fast track their plans regarding a Medical Assessment Unit at Monaghan Hospital, as promised.”
Correspondence from HSE Area Manager for Cavan and Monaghan Leo Kinsella, dated October 19 and addressed to the Monaghan Town Clerk (Marie Deighan), stated:
“Thank you for your correspondence of September 28th 2011 to Minister J Reilly, Minister for Health, with regard to the Minor Injury Service at Monaghan Hospital on behalf of the Monaghan Town Council.
“As part of the additional cost containment measures in Cavan & Monaghan Hospital, forensic analysis of each service is being conducted. The focus of this analysis is based on risk assessment, patient activity, staff resources, service impact and service unit cost.
“The initial focus has been on the lower risk ambulatory services on both Cavan and Monaghan Hospital sites. These services include the Assessment & Rehabilitation Unit on the Cavan site, the outpatient services on both sites, the day service unit on the Cavan Hospital site and the Minor Injury Unit on the Monaghan Hospital site.
Full story in The Northern Standard