Morris says Deloitte report reveals nothing new

Photo: Cllr Séamie Morris

A North Tipp councillor says the UL Hospital Group report was merely an ‘admission of criminal negligence.’

This refers to the publication of the long awaited Deloitte report into the issues at facilities covered by the group including Nenagh Hospital on Friday.

The Deloitte UL Hospitals Group Patient Flow Report stated that an additional 302 inpatient beds and 63 day beds would be required by 2036.

Councillor Seamie Morris says that nothing new came from the report and it simply acknowledged how dangerous the services in the Mid-West are.

“Quite a lot of people in the Mid-West would rather die or take their chances and lie in bed with a pain in their chest at night time rather than get in an ambulance and go into Limerick… Are people let down, they are let down.”

He told Tipp FM the exclusion of any recommendation to reinstate Nenagh, St. John’s, and Ennis’ A and E Departments to 24 hour services was particularly disappointing and the suggestions around a co-located private hospital to ‘pick up the pieces’ would merely see the further degradation of the public services.

Cllr. Morris says the politicians in the Tipperary are letting people down through their silence on the matter.

“The briefing was supposed to last an hour and half, it lasted less than an hour and that shows the type interest of politicians in the Mid-West. Unfortunately we are going to have to go to the streets again to force the people to listen to us. We have not a crumbly but a highly dangerous emergency department in the Mid West and we have to do something to force people to listen.”