HSE and HIQA to be called before Oireachtas committee over closure of Carrick-on-Suir district hospital

The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Public Petitions has resolved to summon representatives of the HSE and HIQA to come before it to be questioned over the decision to close Carrick-on-Suir's St Brigid's District Hospital in 2020.

This follows a submission made before the Committee in Leinster House this afternoon by two representatives of the Save St Brigid's Hospital Action Group, who said the decision to close the hospital was wrong and called for its reversal.

The hearing, chaired by Cashel Sinn Féin TD Martine Browne, lasted close to two hours and was prompted by the submission of a petition of close to 11,000 signatures opposing the hospital's closure. The petition was collected by the Save St Brigid's Hospital Action Group and presented to Minister of State for Older People Mary Butler at the gates of Leinster House in September 2021.

In their submission, Barry Torpey and Susan Mullins of the Save St Brigid's Hospital Action Group outlined that it was impossible to adequately emphasise the connection the people of their area had to St Brigid's Hospital

“Almost every family has had a loved one stay at St Brigid’s for one reason or another over the years. St Brigid’s Hospital has been a haven for families in the area and the distress and anguish at its closure cannot be adequately articulated,” they said.

They said that since the closure of the hospital in April 2020, no alternative service was put in place and instead local people must now use the facilities of private nursing homes for respite care or travel to St. Teresa’s Hospital in Clogheen for end-of-life care.

“St Teresa’s is a 40-minute drive from Carrick with no public transport available. The huge number of people who have died from cancer over the last few years in the Carrick area and whose families have had no close access to hospice care, has caused immense suffering and stress and this situation is continuing to severely impact on everyone in our community,” they told the Petitions Committee hearing.

They pointed out that over the 20 years of palliative care services in St. Brigid’s Hospital, between 28 and 30 people died there every year, which is one person every two weeks.

“Respite and convalescence care provision has also gone, putting severe pressure on carers who deserve and need a break from their 24-hour caring role.

“Our older people in respite care always enjoyed the high standard of care they received from the caring, diligent and friendly team in St. Brigid’s. They were also mostly among friends and local people they knew, which was hugely comforting for them in their later years.”

Ms Mullins and Mr Torpey argued that St Brigid’s Hospital was an example of how the trolley crisis can be alleviated and assist the discharge of older people from hospitals.

“We firmly believe that the re-opening of St. Brigid’s Hospital would help relieve this ongoing issue as there were no long stay beds in St. Brigid’s and the beds available there over the years provided a constant turnaround every two weeks for people, using the respite/convalescent services which in turn provided ‘more beds not less beds’.

They concluded their submission with a call to reopen St Brigid's Hospital. “It's never too late to do the right thing and reverse this decision,” they said.

The case the action group put forward for the reopening ot St Brigid's Hospital received overwhelming support from the Petitions Committee's cross-party membership of TDs and Senators.

Arising from the Save St Brigid's Hospital Action Group's submission, the Committee has decided to seek the appearance of representatives of HSE and HIQA to come before it to explain the decision to close the hospital and answer questions about the closure.

Read full coverage of the Oireachtas Joint Public Petitions Committee hearing in next week's edition of The Nationalist.