VIDEO: Call for people to "make noise" and help save South Westmeath Hospice
The South Westmeath Hospice committee has issued an urgent plea to the public to get behind its campaign to protect the full range of services offered at the current hospice facility in the grounds of St Vincent's Care Centre in Athlone.
In a hard-hitting video released by the voluntary committee this week, chairperson Clare Lennon, urged people to "make noise" about the proposal by the HSE to close the existing South Westmeath Hospice facility and replace it with four palliative care beds in the Community Nursing Unit.
She said that, if South Westmeath Hospice was lost, people would be losing far more than they might realise if a family member of theirs has not needed to avail of the service to date.
"It is so important that we protect the privacy, the separation, and the space so that young families, or families of any age, can be supported without the interruption of the day-to-day busy life of a care of the elderly facility," said Ms Lennon in her video statement.
"We can't have a public rally at the moment, but we can make noise," she said, urging everyone to share the post online and to add their comments in an effort to save the South Westmeath Hospice.
The video by the committee is the latest move in the on-going dispute between the South Westmeath Hospice group and the HSE over the future of hospice provision for the people of Athlone and South Westmeath.
The current plans by the HSE to close the facility and provide four beds in the new community nursing unit would mean, according to Ms Lennon, that people would lose out on a lot of choices that are currently available to them, including the choice of where to die, the choice of staying out of an acute hospital if symptom management is required, and the choice of being able to go somewhere "so that our families can have a rest before we go home to spend our last days."
You can watch the video here:
The South Westmeath Hospice committee was formed in 1994.
The facility itself, in the grounds of the St Vincent Care Centre, was eventually established with the support of substantial fundraising from members of the public.