Protest suspended as HSE withdraws plan to close South Westmeath Hospice
The HSE has withdrawn its proposal to close the South Westmeath Hospice in Athlone.
The development comes weeks after HSE plans to close the facility resulted in a huge backlash from the public locally.
It means a 'Save Your Hospice' protest rally, which had been planned for Athlone on October 19, will not now take place.
In a statement, the South Westmeath Hospice Committee said it met with HSE officials Donal Fitzsimons, General Manager Older Persons Service, and Jude O’Neill, Head of Social Care, last Thursday night as a first step in moving to a consultative process for keeping the South Westmeath Hospice open.
Committee chairperson Clare Lennon said she cautiously welcomed the outcome of last week's meeting.
"Our committee refused to progress any further with the HSE until the plans to close the South Westmeath Hospice were fully withdrawn," she said.
"As a committee we couldn’t engage in a consultative process knowing that the threat to close the Hospice hung over our heads. I cautiously welcome the statement from the HSE in this regard.
"We have a lot of trust that needs to be rebuilt and we have a lot of work to do to bring facilities and services back to what they were. This first step by the HSE demonstrates an olive branch. We always stood ready to engage in meaningful discussions and now feel we can begin this process."
The HSE issued a statement confirming it had withdrawn the plan to close the four-bed Hospice unit.
"The HSE is committed to building a working relationship with the South Westmeath Hospice Committee and the stakeholders involved in operating the South Westmeath Hospice," it said.
"To that end, the HSE will begin a consultative process immediately to address issues surrounding the patient admissions policy to the hospice facility and reconsider the plans for the new site at Clonbrusk, Athlone."
While the public rally on October 19 has now been called off, Karen Cunningham, the vice-chairperson of the South Westmeath Hospice Committee, said the 'Save Your Hospice' campaign would continue.
"Our focus is now on engaging with the HSE to deliver the objectives set out at the begining of the campaign," she said.
"If at any stage the HSE appear to undermine or circumvent the committee in this process, or renege on the commitments they have given to engage with the committee in a constructive and meaningful process, we will revert to the initial plan of public rally and will call on people to stand together and demonstrate to stop the closure of their hospice facility," she added.
The Hospice committee said it "cannot thank the public enough" for the support shown in recent weeks, including at a coffee morning in Athlone GAA Club which was attended by more than 1,500 people on September 21.