Hospice threat hasn't gone away

FEARS about the future of the South Westmeath Hospice building have re-emerged after a statement from the Minister for Health following a meeting with campaigners last week did not indicate that the proposed closure was completely off the table.

Referring to a HSE proposal to "realign palliative care support beds", the Minister’s statement issued to the Westmeath Independent said that “no decision has been made in relation to these proposals pending consultation with key stakeholders.”

Whilst this suggests the HSE plan to close the hospice by the end of the year will not now be allowed to proceed without consultation meetings, it clearly does not rule out the possibility this proposal will re-emerge following the consultation process.

The controversy erupted late last month when the HSE told the local hospice committee of its plans to close the existing hospice building on St Vincent's Care Centre campus by the end of the year, temporarily provide two palliative care beds in the existing community nursing facility for the elderly at St Vincent's and then provide up to four palliative care beds in a new community nursing unit to be built at Clonbrusk. As a result an emergency meeting was held last Tuesday between representatives of South Westmeath Hospice, Minister for Health Simon Harris, Minister of State Kevin 'Boxer' Moran and Longford/ Westmeath Fine Gael TD Peter Burke.

Following the meeting, the Westmeath Independent requested a statement from the Department of Health. We were issued with a response which referred to a meeting with the hospice over their “concerns about a proposal by the HSE to realign palliative care support beds located on the St Vincent's Care Centre campus in Athlone.”

The statement continued: “A working group is being established by the HSE, which will include representatives of Palliative Care Staff and members of the South Westmeath Hospice Committee, in relation to services on the current campus and to identify the future delivery of the service as part of a planned 50-bed Community Nursing Unit to be constructed in Clonbrusk, Athlone, as a public private partnership project.

“No decision has been made in relation to these proposals pending consultation with key stakeholders. “The Minister would encourage all key stakeholders to engage with this important process in the interests of identifying the optimum service delivery arrangements to meet local needs.” The statement from the Minister emerged after there had been a positive response from those in attendance at the meeting.

In a statement follow ing Tuesday evening's meeting with the Minister, the South Westmeath Hospice Committee announced that the Minister had directed the HSE not to proceed with its controversial plan to close the existing hospice building in Athlone. The committee said it was happy that the proposal by the HSE was now removed.

However, Chairperson of the South Westmeath Hospice Clare Lennon warned: “The campaign is not over."

“The proposals for a new unit at Clonbrusk must mirror what is currently provided in the Hospice Unit, referral pathways need to be clariï¬ed and an appropriate admission policy will have to be put in place. The committee will work hard to deliver these objectives and secure the future of the South Westmeath Hospice.”