And Councillor Edel McSharry has called for urgent and robust action after leaks in four operating theatres at the hospital forced the closure of four theatres with the cancellation of elective surgeries this week.<\/p>\n
Roof replacement works on the orthopaedic theatre have been underway for several months and are due to conclude by the end of October.<\/p>\n
However, recent heavy rains over the past week and in particular as a result of Storm Amy, have caused fresh leaks in other theatres, including day services theatres.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cThis is a grave situation. While it is welcome that repair works are continuing, it is clear that the building. over 40 years old, is no longer fit for purpose.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe HSE feasibility study currently underway must be expedited and immediately followed by a business plan so that funding can be secured in the next Capital Plan for a new build.<\/p>\n
\u201cPatients in the North West cannot be left waiting indefinitely,\u201d said Cllr McSharry.<\/p>\n
Cllr McSharry, a member of the Regional Health Forum West\/North West, has consistently raised the issue of what the long-term plan is for the orthopaedic theatre unit.<\/p>\n
She stressed that this part of the hospital needs a new build.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe HSE has recognised the need for both short-term and medium-term solutions, but we are at a critical stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to move beyond feasibility studies and bring forward a business plan that can be included in the development and capital programme.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout this, patients will continue to see delays and uncertainty,\u201d she warned.<\/p>\n
Cllr McSharry acknowledged the efforts of hospital management, surgeons, nurses and allied healthcare professionals in ensuring emergency surgeries continue, but warned that repeated cancellations of elective operations will only worsen waiting times and waiting lists.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery cancelled procedure adds to the backlog. People waiting for small day-case operations, as well as major orthopaedic procedures such as hip and knee replacements, are seeing their treatment pushed further away.”<\/p>\n
\u201cThis means longer waits, more people living in pain, and a growing list of patients whose quality of life is being diminished. A clear, fast-tracked plan is needed immediately \u2014 whether through a purpose built modular solution or a new tradition built facility \u2014 alongside completion of the current roof works to prevent further disruption,\u201d said Cllr MacSharry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"And Councillor Edel McSharry has called for urgent and robust action after leaks in four operating theatres at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":106734,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[275],"tags":[18,135,475,474,19,17,16623],"class_list":{"0":"post-106733","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-eire","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-health-care","11":"tag-healthcare","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland","14":"tag-paul-deering"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106733"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106733\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}