The UL Hospitals Group has apologised to patients saying the Emergency Department at the region’s main hospital “is not fit for main purpose”. It’s reported that a whistleblower described conditions at the Dooradoyle facility as “absolute hell” and also noted that nurses and doctors were seeing an average of 220 patients per day. In response, UL Hospital Group says it has long acknowledged that the ED is too small for the volumes of patients attending and is one of the busiest in the country with around 60,000 patients attending annually. The hospital says a number of measures have been taken to ease overcrowding including the hiring of additional staff and the provision of 40 additional beds, while a new state of the art ED, which will be triple the size, is on course to be opened in 2017. Last night’s Prime Time show (22nd February) included secretly filmed images of UHL shot a fortnight ago. There were 37 people on trolleys in the hospital on the day. UHL has issued a detailed statement apologising to patients and families who have had negative experiences at the hospital (in the NAS drive). Councillor Ann Norton, Independent; and Dr Michael Harty, Independent, joined Gavin this morning to discuss the issue of health.
Sorcha Daly is a parent from Moyasta whose son has been using Kilrush community childcare services. She says she's one of a group of 6 from the wider Kilrush area who have come together, at Pobal's request, to coordinate parents and staff, while a replacement for West Clare Early Years is put in place. Sorcha’s group and a group from Kilkee met last night (approx. 30 people) to assess the situation. They're frustrated with their communications with Pobal and the fact that a replacement service could still be several weeks away. Sorcha attends VTOS, and says they're very supportive. However, she says numbers attending have dropped since the closure of the community childcare service and many parents are struggling. Gavin also spoke to Maddy Dunne, another parent affected by the closure.
Next on the show, Gavin spoke to Trudy Waters, Head of News & Current Affairs at Tipp FM, about the Tipperary constituency profile. Tipperary is a new five-seat constituency, apart from an area in the northern part of the county which has gone into Offaly. This follows the amalgamation of the Tipperary North and Tipperary South constituencies which existed since 1948. Previously, each of those constituencies had three seats each. The 13 candidates in the race are Dep. Noel Coonan, Dep. Tom Hayes, Marie Murphy (FG); Siobhán Ambrose, Jackie Cahill, Michael Smith (FF), Séamus Morris (SF), Minister Alan Kelly (Lab.); Gearoid Fitzgibbon (Green); Michael Dillon, Dep. Séamus Healy, Dep. Michael Lowry, Dep. Mattie McGrath (Ind.)
Later on in the show, we heard from Clare FM’s Ronan Moyles, who joined Green candidate, Fergal Smith, whilst canvassing in Ennis.
A regular listener, Mikey Joe, got in touch with the show to air his concerns about young children attending bingo sessions in West Clare. He says he attends bingo up to four nights a week and that the noise created by young children is a distraction. He also believes it's unfair to have young children out late (bingo finishes around 11pm) and it's exhausting for them.
Gavin was joined on the line by Sue Cave, a volunteer with the Make a Wish Foundation and Irene Timmons, Head of Fundraising with the organisation. To date, 33 children from Clare have had their wishes come through with Make a Wish Ireland. Since 1922, the organisation has dedicated itself to ensuring that wishes are granted to children who are battling life threatening medical conditions such as cancer, brain tumours, cystic fibrosis, heart disease, muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy and many others. To support its ongoing work with children from Clare and throughout Ireland, Make a Wish need the help of volunteers in the county to keep the work going. Wish Day will take place on Friday, April 8, and Make a Wish is seeking the help of 20 volunteers throughout Clare to give just a few hours of their time to support the cause.
Next on Morning Focus, Gavin spoke to The Money Doctor, John Lowe. John answered several listeners’ money queries.
Gavin also spoke to Clare County Dog Warden, Frankie Coote.
The celebrated Seanchaí and children’s writer from Crusheen, Eddie Lenihan, has just returned from a visit to Japan. His books have been translated in recent times into both Japanese and Chinese. Eddie spoke to Gavin this morning about his visit.
Paddy Dunne, who runs Bingo in Lisdoonvarna, also spoke to Gavin about the issue of young children attending bingo.
Plans to build a crematorium in Shannon have hit a hitch with local councillors poised to pull out of a sale of the proposed site at Illaunamanagh. Yesterday (Monday, February 22nd) a majority of members of the Shannon Municipal District voted to withdraw from the sale. The matter must now go to a full meeting of Clare County Council for approval. In April of last year, Clare County Councillors agreed to sell a 1.3 acre site at Illaunamanagh to businessman Jim Cranwell. A fee of 140 thousand euro had been agreed, and planning permission had already been secured, but local residents subsequently raised objections. Councillor PJ Ryan. Shannon MD, spoke to Gavin this morning about the issue.
Theresa from Kilmaley spoke on the show about her experience with taking her three-week-old granddaughter to the A&E in UHL and her anger at the condition of the hospital.
