Published: Wednesday, 9th June, 2010 6:00pm

HSE briefs council on Loughloe House and Primary Care controversies

The HSE's handling of health services in Athlone came in for strong criticism when its top local official attended a special meeting of the town council on Tuesday evening.

Joe Ruane, the HSE's Local Health Manager for Longford/Westmeath addressed the meeting and fielded questions about the planned closure of Loughloe House, the future of St Vincent's Hospital, and the Primary Care Centre which was proposed for Clonbrusk but has been shelved until at least 2016.

Watching from the public gallery of the Athlone Civic Centre were up to 20 supporters of the campaign to save Loughloe House.

Mr Ruane told those in attendance that the moratorium on recruitment meant he'd been unable to replace a number of staff members who had left Loughloe House, including a Director of Nursing who departed over a year ago.

He stated that the decision to close the facility was not taken to save money for the HSE but rather because of concerns over the diminished level of staffing and other factors affecting patient care.

"We're not saving €1 by closing Loughloe House. The staff will still have to be paid and the cost to other nursing homes will still have to be paid," he said.

Mr Ruane said that since the closure was announced, in early May, seven Loughloe House residents had moved out, 5 or 6 residents had identified locations where they would move, and approximately 11 residents and their families were refusing to engage with the HSE.

Some councillors pointed out that Minister of State for Health, Aine Brady, said on RTE that none of the nursing home residents would be forced to move out until they agreed to do so.

Mr Ruane was pressed about what would happen if they refused to move, with Cllr Kevin 'Boxer' Moran asking if it would be similar to a situation in which Gardai were called to remove people who were chained to railings at the passport office in Dublin.

"I don't want to inflame the situation," said Mr Ruane. "Some residents and their families have not engaged with the HSE to date. It's my hope and desire that this will change. We'll wait and see."

He stated that there was no alternative available to him other than to close the facility.

"The last thing I wanted was to find myself in that position (of having to announce the closure of Loughloe House). If there was an alternative route I would have taken it," he said.

When discussing services at St Vincent's Hospital in Athlone, he said the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) had identified a number of issues at the facility and these were now being addressed.

He said it appeared that St Vincent's had enough employees to withstand the moratorium on staff recruitment.

"I don't see a scenario in the foreseeable future where there will be a threat to St Vincent's," he said.

When discussing the Clonbrusk Primary Care facility he explained that HSE's capital budget had been greatly reduced since May 2007 and that this project was no longer seen as a top priority.

"The building was designed, and staff and other stakeholders were involved in the project. I believed, and still believe, it would be a great asset for Athlone. So it's disappointing.

"I can't defend the fact that a field was bought in 1999 and now the earliest work can start (at that site) will be 2016," he said.

* For more on this story see next Wednesday's edition of the Westmeath Independent.